


Lavender Fields

by Redsnow119



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Historical, Canon-Typical Violence, Comedy, Eventual Smut, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Human Experiments, Post War, The rest of the gang might pop in, World War II, blame google, i'm not a historian, mentions of nazis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:34:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 52,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27952412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redsnow119/pseuds/Redsnow119
Summary: It's post war France and after escaping a Nazi experimentation camp, Renee Blasey found a job delivering mail around a small village. Her world is changed once more as she stumbles on one particular girl seemingly lost on her way to her Father's house.
Relationships: Wattson | Natalie Paquette/Wraith | Renee Blasey
Comments: 58
Kudos: 143





	1. Lavender Fields

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! A few of you wanted this chapter of my headcanon post to be a bit more fleshed out so here you go! I already have a few chapters ready so I'll be posting them every few days. Beyond that I can't say I'll have a definitive schedule, but I'll update when I can. Thank you and enjoy!

September 20th, 1945

The gravel and dirt crunched under the rubber tires of her motorized bicycle as she forged up the hill a little ways outside the village. She just completed her delivery route, thankfully with time to spare. The late summer air was quickly growing heavy with muggy humidity. The moisture made her dark navy uniform cling uncomfortably to her skin and her brow grew sweaty underneath the flat service cap. The woman brushed back her black hair into a neater low bun as she paused at the top of the hill.

_To your right_

The voice chimed in her head. It was always unsettling when one of them would speak up, but it was something she had grown used too in the past months. She looked to where the calm voice had guided her to see a woman down the road. It was hard to tell due to distance who she was, but it was clear she wasn’t one of the regular people from the village. The village was small and everyone knew just about everyone, especially postal workers. But, she couldn’t place the name of this blonde girl. If she was to be staying near the village it was her duty to know her, at least that’s what she told herself as she adjusted her cap and neatened her scarf before speeding back down the hill.

As she rode up to her more details became clear. The woman was clearly younger than herself, at least by a little. Her yellow sundress and hat paired with a white long sleeve shirt definitely gave off a more juvenile vibe, but the way she carried herself as she walked to admire some flowers off the side of the road was proper and sophisticated. The woman crouched down to admire the lavender growing, setting what looked to be a small leather suitcase beside her.

Soon she stopped her motorbike a few feet away. Though not as loud as a conventional motorcycle she expected some sort of reaction from the blonde as she approached. The girl only continued to admire the flowers, seemingly lost in thought. She turned off the machine and kicked down the stand to hold the bike steady as she left to walk up to the woman.

“Miss?” She said calmly, but her brow furrowed as she was seemingly ignored by the woman. “Excuse me...” She said a little sterner and reached out to touch the woman’s shoulder, but stopped midway as she finally got the blonde’s attention.

The first thing she was drawn to was the spider web of a scar that danced up her cheek. Most had scars these days and her heart panged in grief knowing she too went through something so tragic. Her eyes were blue like her own, but they were so much more vibrant and full of life. Even accented by a sheepish smile, they held a mischievous air.

“Ah, Je suis desole! I must have been lost in thought!”

With her hand still awkwardly hanging in the air the younger woman decided to use it to help her stand. Something caught in her throat at the touch as she attempted to clear it.

“Right, ahem. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Oui! Er, well actually I seem to be a bit lost. I haven’t seen my father in the few years since he moved to this village and I’m not exactly sure where his house is.” The woman blushed and pulled out a crumpled telegram from her pocket. “His directions are never very clear you see…”

“What’s his name?”

“Luc Paquette? He’s an inventor, wears glas-“

“Oh! You must be Natalie then.”

“Oui! But how did you-“

“The old man mentions you often when I deliver his mail.”

Natalie smiled so brightly it was almost blinding as she clapped her hands. “What luck! You must know where he lives then!”

“I do, but it’s a bit of a walk from here. You’re on the wrong side of the village.” She grimaced.

“It’s alright, it was my mistake in the first place.” She smiled sheepishly and ran a gloved hand through her short hair.

“I could uh-“ The woman hesitated and felt her cheeks heat up. “Give you a ride?”

“Oh I could not impose!”

“I insist!” She countered quickly. She didn’t know why she was acting this way, but something deep within her gut needed to see that blinding smile again. The girl huffed and shrugged her shoulders.

“I guess there is no point in arguing with you then.” She smiled.

The woman nodded and reached for her bag. As she started to strap it to the side of her bike Natalie skipped up to her with a more mischievous smile.

“May I know the name of _ma chevalier_ before we leave?”

The woman nearly dropped Natalie’s bag as she fumbled at the words. “Uh Renee, Renee Blasey.”

_Real smooth…_

“Shut it…” Renee mumbled under her breath.

“Quoi?”

“Nothing, let’s just get going.”

Swiftly Renee swung her leg over the seat and started the motor. She gestured for Natalie to sit behind her on the empty cargo rack. She eagerly took up the makeshift seat, letting her legs dangle off one side. A gloved hand hesitantly hooked around her stomach as they started rolling.

“I would hold on to your hat, Miss. Paquette.” Renee called over her shoulder as they picked up speed.

She almost crashed at the sight of the girl behind her starting to giggle wildly as they sped along the countryside. She hid the small smile growing on her lips in the fabric of her scarf as she refocused on the road ahead. The village was the sleepy sort, nestled in fields of crops and flowers. The bike puttered along a field of wildflowers as she felt the girl relax against her back. They rode past the village in moderate silence, but the white puffy clouds above grew dark and heavy with rain. Halfway to Luc’s house the sprinkle of water started to drip down.

_To your left, take that path!_

Renee jolted at the voice, but trusted the words as they road into a bit of forest. There at the end of a rougher trial was wooden shelter overlooking a creek. Natalie was able to hop off and find cover just in time for the heavens to break open in a downpour. Renee looked like ally cat that went through the wash as she slunk in carrying Natalie’s mostly dry suitcase.

“Oh Renee, you didn’t have to do that. You are all soaked now.” She said worriedly as she grabbed her bag from the older woman.

“I’ll live.”

“You will catch a cold if you stay in such wet clothes.”

Renee raised an eyebrow and smirked at how determined the other woman was. She shrugged and took off her cap and jacket hanging them both up to dry, along with her scarf. As she jokingly made a move to take off her remaining black tank top as well she heard a satisfying panicked squeak.

“Wait no! No that’s enough!”

She glanced over to see the girl blushed and fumbling for words.

“I was only kidding, Natalie.”

“R-right, of course you were.” She said avoiding her gaze to sit down on the edge of the shelter.

She fidgeted with her hands as she forced herself to look out towards the downpour. Renee decided to join her at a comfortable distance. Her heart pounded a little faster every time she’d catch Natalie glance at her toned arms. Her past made her strong, one of the few things even she appreciated about herself.

“61137?” Natalie mumbled out loud.

Renee’s eyes went wide as she quickly hid her left forearm tight against her thigh. Of course she would notice the dark numbers tattooed into her skin. The flirting earlier must have made her forget what was etched there.

“Renee, can I ask what that means?”

“No.” She spat and tucked her right knee under her chin. She cringed as she saw the girl next to her visibly deflate. Fidgety hands clasped tight in her lap and her lips formed a thin line.

“I’m sorry, I should not have said anything.”

Renee only gave a slight nod. Between them was only the white noise of pouring rain as memories flooded into Renee. Dark corridors pasted by her once again as she was being dragged by uniformed soldiers. Her head throbbed as she felt warm liquid pour down her cheeks. Blood or tears, she couldn’t tell. She fought and kicked but the men were stronger. Vaguely she felt a pain in her left arm as she was thrown into a dirty cell. It was one of her earliest memories.

She was thankfully shaken out of these dark thoughts as she felt Natalie shift beside her. The woman reached for her suitcase and started to rummage through it.

“Well it seems like the rain isn’t going to let up for a while. I had bought a box for myself, but I suppose we can share it if you would like.”

Curiosity dragged her gaze from the rain to a small paper box being opened in Natalie’s lap. The paper was decorated with pretty flowers and pastel colors. After removing the lid as well as a layer of thin pink paper, the box revealed to contain a colorful assortment of macarons neatly assembled in rows. Renee’s mouth watered at the sight and her stomach chided her for skipping meals again. Her attention was momentarily pulled from the cookies by a giggle escaping the younger girl.

“I suppose I should take that rumbling as a yes, no?”

“Oh no, you don’t ha-“

Natalie held a finger to her lips and smirked. “I insist!” Renee huffed out a laugh, letting a small smile grace her lips as she brushed the hand away.

“Can’t argue with that.”

Natalie’s smile grew and her eyes shined at the rare expression. Quickly she set the box between them and helped herself to an orange cookie. Renee picked up a purple one and found it delicious as she bit into it.

“Wow! These...” She mumbled with her mouth full. She quickly swallowed, remembering manners before speaking again. “These are really good.”

“Mhhmm! They are from a favorite shop of mine back in the city!”

“Right, the old man mentioned you lived in Paris.”

“Oui! Have you ever been there?”

“No, I don’t think I have.”

“Oh it is a beautiful city, Renee. _Very romantic_ …” She said while side eyeing her reaction. Seemingly satisfied in how the older woman nearly choked on her second cookie, she let out a sigh of relief.

“At least it is now, once more.”

“Were you there during the occupation?”

“Oui…” Natalie said with a bit of sadness creeping into her voice. Renee quickly set down her half eaten treat to grip onto her arm.

“I’m sorry, it must have been hard. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“Non, it is alright.” She said with a more strained smile. “I was very lucky and had it easier than most. The power company I worked for was important and they protected me. I could still work and move about the city with more freedom than others.”

“Power company? What did you do there?”

“Oh I’m an electrical engineer!” A genuine smile of pride graced her feature as she tilted up her chin. “Their best one in fact! I was able to figure out a 14% increase in efficiency within my first two weeks of being there!”

“Alright, you got me. I’m impressed.” Renee smiled and removed her hand from where it rested on Natalie’s arm. “So what are you doing all the way out here, Miss. Important Engineer?”

“I haven’t seen Papa in quite a few years, so my work awarded me the rest of the year to be with him. I never took days off so, they basically kicked me out.” She shrugged sheepishly.

“You’re definitely Luc’s kid, every delivery I make, regardless of time he’s always working on something.”

Natalie nodded and they fell into easy silence. The tension from earlier was gone and as the rain slowed to a stop a new problem presented itself. The temperature had unknowingly decreased around them. It became clear as Renee noticed Natalie struggling to hide a shiver in her light sundress. Quickly while Natalie was busy cleaning up the remaining cookies, Renee slipped away to grab her jacket and scarf. Only the outermost layer of the coat was a little damp now and her scarf, though frayed and old was warm and dry. Just as Natalie finished struggling to close her suitcase with shaky hands, Renee slid the jacket and scarf around her shoulders.

“Renee! What are you doing?”

“You’re cold.” She said bluntly as she adjusted her cap and walked to her bike. “It’s my duty as delivery woman to keep my cargo safe and secure, right?” She added with a wink over her shoulder.

“Dose every delivery woman flirt with their cargo as well?” Natalie shot back as she threaded her arms through the jacket and brought her bag to the bike.

“Flirt? I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Renee said as she fastened the bag to the bike once more. “I take my professionalism very seriously...”

As she finished she stood up to find Natalie inches away on the other side of the bike. She couldn’t help but notice the playful gleam in her bright blue eyes, the adorable freckles that splatted her skin and how soft her lips looked at this distance.

“…Ma’am” She finished in a squeaked whisper. But before any move was made a cold wind blew up her back. The sun was starting to grow low in the sky.

“We should probably head out.” Natalie said with a soft sigh. “Papa will start to worry soon.”

Renee nodded and quickly started the bike. Together they headed out of the woods and back on the road. Soon they saw parked atop a small hill was a humble stone house. The land around the house was barred off with a rock fence and the interior was filled with flowers and discarded inventions. Natalie squeezed Renee’s stomach in excitement as it came into view.

“Ah that is one of Papa’s failed pylons! This is his house most certainly!”

Renee stopped the bike at the roadside gate. She turned it off to unhook Natalie’s bag as the girl pointed out more failed projects from the gate. Renee paused as she turned around. The sight of this beautiful girl wearing her things and talking excitedly with such a happy expression was almost too much to bare. Her heart skipped too many beats as she approached her with the suitcase. Suddenly her happy expression grew sad as she noticed Renee approaching.

“Right, this is my stop.” Natalie sighed as she removed the jacket and traded it for her bag. As Renee shrugged her coat back on and swung her leg back over her bike, Natalie got the best of ideas.

“Thank you Renee, for giving me a lift so far out of your way.”

“No problem. It’s the least I can do for the old man’s daughter.”

“Well you still deserve a tip.” Natalie hummed and pulled the black scarf off her neck to wrap around Renee’s. Renee rolled her eyes with a smirk.

“Natalie, that won’t be necessary…” Renee faded out as the softest kiss was pressed to her cheek. The only thing Renee could think of is how the orange sunlight made Natalie’s hair almost glow. She could feel how hot her cheeks became as Natalie pulled away. The girl seemingly embarrassed sprinted past the gate and called over her shoulder.

“Thanks again for the ride Renee!”

Renee could only smile as the girl fled into the building. She chuckled to herself as she sped back towards the village.

“Natalie Paquette, you sure are something.”


	2. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Renee left everything she knew, she found solace in what would end up being her best friend. And that friend needs her help.

September 23th, 1945

It was too early for the sun to be hitting her face like this, especially on a Sunday. Even as Renee twisted in thin sheets the glare of the sun through her window kept blinding her. She sighed and begrudgingly sat up. Her loose hair draped around her shoulders as she palmed the sleep out of her eyes. Her room was small to stay the least.

What was once a janitor’s room became her makeshift apartment. Her small cot was shoved into a corner and flanked by a steel shelving unit full of supplies for the office. There was a large basin sink, a table with two chairs and a hot plate balanced precariously between the two. The only other room was a tiny bathroom with a shower. What little clothing she had was strewn around the floor and hanging off chairs. Renee sighed as she made her way to the hot plate half asleep. There she heated a kettle for what would be her everyday savoir, coffee. She lazily rinsed out her chipped mug of yesterday’s brew before dropping in a few spoonfuls of her favorite brown powder. The sun lit the room in a dusty orange glow, in a way it made the messy place comfortable.

“It’s not much but, it’s all mine.” Renee hummed to herself quietly. A small smile graced her lips as the kettle started to sing.

_You seem to be very happy…_

“Starting early, huh?” She spoke to herself as she sipped her coffee.

_The tall one is approaching. Get dressed._

Renee rolled her eyes at the request and grabbed a shirt off the chair to throw over her head. She never wore much to bed. It all felt too constricting under the covers. Too familiar to other garments she used to wear. She was just about to look for pants when she heard a knock on the door. She shrugged as the voices chided her to get fully dressed. She knew this man well and had answered the door in less than a shirt and underwear before.

Still she was cautious and kept the chain lock attached as she cracked the door open. There standing in front of her was indeed a tall man. He was somewhere in his late 40’s and lanky to a T, with thin arms and legs. The only weight he carried was a set of relatively broad shoulders. He smiled down at her with big dopy rust colored eyes and awkwardly ran a hand into short blonde hair.

“Ah I’m sorry friend, did I wake you?”

“No Marvin, I was up. Did you need something for the office?” Renee said and gestured to the bright blue uniform the man wore.

“Yes please! May I come in?”

“Yeah, one sec.”

It took a moment for Renee to unlock her door from the various locks she had put on herself, but once unlocked Marvin ducked his way inside. He didn’t seem to mind the mess as he quickly fished out a medium sized package from his messenger bag. Renee sipped her coffee as Marvin set it down on her table.

He was a little odd to most. His movements were jerky and sometimes he’d seem to forget how long his limbs were but, he was one of the few people Renee felt comfortable around. He never asked her questions about her past or how she’d talk to herself often. Even her short temper never fazed him. He would only show her kindness, even if some of it was blind.

“It seems like our friend Elliot forgot a package while making that large deliver yesterday.”

“Not surprised, that truck was packed.”

“Do you think you could deliver it today?” Marvin asked with a sheepish smile and clasped hands.

“What about Elliot? It was his delivery after all.” Renee grumbled into her remaining coffee.

“It would be much more efficient for you to go on your bike then the truck, plus…” Renee watched as her companion’s broad shoulders slump. “I seem to have misplaced our friend Elliot…”

Renee only sighed and started to change into her uniform. “Fine, I’ll deliver it after I get dressed. I’ll check in town for that idiot if I get the chance, so don’t worry.”

Marvin smiled brightly at the words and raised a hand in the air. Renee rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop the small smirk that graced her lips as she swatted it away in a satisfying clap. The man said a quick thanks as he trotted out the room, nearly hitting his head on the door frame. Renee sighed and shook her head. She doesn’t know if she ever had a younger brother, but she would guess it would be someone akin to Marvin.

After changing into her uniform she tied back her hair and set about brushing her teeth. Brush still in in her mouth she glanced at the address of the package. Instantly she felt her heart beat a bit quicker and the brush fell from her mouth as she read the name.

Natalie Paquette.


	3. Delivery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Marven found a left over package, he had insisted on Renee to deliver it on her day off. The only problem was, it was addressed to the girl she's starting to develop a crush on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhhh! Thank you all for such encouraging comments! It really means a lot to me, thank you! I think I'll try to post every tuesday and thursday, at least until I catch up with my pre written chapters. Without further ado, Chapter 3.

The sun was warm when Renee set out on her ride up to the little house. She took extra care in how she tied the package down to the rack and even went through a few double checks to make sure it was secure. She received a few curious glances from some of the townsfolk as she maneuvered the narrow winding streets of the village. A curt nod was about all the emotion she usually showed them, but she couldn’t help the little smirk that fell on her lips as she thought about her previous encounter with the girl.

_You’re letting yourself get soft._

_You’ll put her in danger if you get close._

_She was probably just being nice, it’s not like she held any actual feelings for you._

“Right, I really shouldn’t.” Renee sighed as she left the perimeter of town. “But, I got a job to do.”

As her bike hit dirt there was a little rattling in the small motor. The bike puttered and revved uncontrollably for a moment before settling out to its standard noise. Renee raised an eyebrow, but carried on ignoring the slight hiccup. She tested the throttle and seemingly satisfied in the response, slid a pair of tinted goggles over her eyes. This was her favorite part of the job. She gave the throttle a twist and she quickly picked up speed. Outside of the village she could go just about as fast as she wanted.

It felt like a free fall, yet was completely in her control. Control and freedom, that was something that she lacked in whatever parts of her life she could remember. But this job and more importantly this bike gave her all the freedom and control she could ever want. Swiftly she maneuvered the bike over hills and winding dirt paths. It was moments like this that caused a cold energy to surround her. She felt it before but the memories were too painful to recall and too fuzzy to make out much detail. Luckily the familiar rock wall that marked the edge of the Paquette residence came into view before her thoughts darkened too much.

She slid in the dirt as she came to a quick stop in front of the familiar house. As she switched off the motor and started to unstrap the package she couldn’t help but notice the odd tiny sound that came as the motor ran down.

“That’s odd. I’ll have Marv look at it when I get back.”

_Make this quick then._

Renee nodded to no one in particular as she shifted the box under her arm. She quickly found the latch to the gate and let herself into the yard. As she made it halfway to the house she heard a low grunt of effort along the side of the building.

_He’s over there._

She carefully stepped along a trail of less unruly grass as she rounded the building. There alongside the house was a small fenced in garden in the process of being cared for. An older man with graying blonde hair was crouched down over some growing vegetables. He seemed to be contemplating something as he stroked his goatee. He didn’t seem to notice her approach and Renee couldn’t help but notice how similar the Paquettes looked when they were lost in thought.

“Hey Luc, I got a delivery for your daughter, she in?” She called while resting on the fence.

The garden seemed to be where he could be alone with his thoughts. She’d often came by to deliver his mail just to see him sitting there, thinking. It was a nice place she supposed. The vegetables were well cared for. They would of course would attract plenty of cute fauna, including an old fluffy white cat that seemed to enjoy head butting her feet to get her attention. Luc rose to his feet as the cat jumped to the fence for customary chin scratches.

“Ah yes, Miss. Blasey, she is. Natalie!” He called and pounded his fist into the wall of the house a few times before continuing. "Tu avez une livraison! S’il te plait viens dehors!”

“Oui Papa!”

Renee heard the muffled answer and her heart jolted a bit. Luc joined her by the fence. He pulled out a slightly dirty rag to wipe away the sweat forming on his brow. He regarded her quietly with a familiar sheepishness.

“I am truly sorry about how many things your co-workers had to deliver yesterday, it seems like my daughter couldn’t leave her work back at her home in the big city.”

“It’s no problem, this was just accidently left at the office.”

“Ah Papa! I think I know what it is!” Natalie squealed as she rounded the corner of the house.

Renee’s ears heated when she saw her again. Today her outfit was much different than the one she had first seen her in. A pair of brown slacks, leather work boots, white dress shirt and even suspenders graced her figure today. Instantly Renee’s mind struggled in figuring out what outfit was cuter as she attempted to clear her throat.

“Th-this is for you.”

“Merci Renee!” Natalie beamed and excitedly started to tear open the box. Renee noticed the white glove that was once on her left hand had been switched to a thicker brown one. Luc smirked from the fence as he lit a small pipe from his pocket.

“So you two have met I see…”

“Oui! Renee gave me a ride here the other day since _someone’s_ directions weren’t very clear.”

“Ever since you were a baby, you’ve been terrible at following directions ma ange.” He chuckled fondly which only caused the girl to pout.

“Which is why I always come up with my own!” Natalie huffed and continued to tear into the box.

“I see, well I hope she wasn’t too much trouble Miss. Blasey?”

“Oh, of course not sir.” Renee uncharacteristically stammered and scratched her cheek to hide the growing blush as she thought about that afternoon. “I found her company to be very pleasant actually.”

“Is that so?” Luc said with a knowing smile. He was interrupted from saying any more as Natalie let out a cheerful squeak. The remnants of the box fell to the ground as she held the contents tightly to her chest. It was a stuffed animal of sorts. Hard to tell as it didn’t take the shape of any animal Renee had ever seen before. It had a long green neck and head with an overstuffed body. The stitching was frayed and the color was faded.

“I had though he had gotten lost in the mail!”

“I can’t believe you’ve held on to that poor thing all these years.” Luc sighed and shook his head.

“Misuser Nessie has been by my side my whole life, has he not?”

“Nessie?” Renee smirked and folded her arms.

“Oui! My most trusted companion.”

Natalie smiled and handed the plush to Renee. It was definitely cute for whatever animal it once took the form of. She gently rotated the creature as she inspected it. The wear and multiple repairs were obvious but that only seemed to add to the object's charm. Carefully she handed it back and inwardly smiled at how happy Natalie got as she squished the fabric in her hands.

_Don’t get attached_

“Oh ma ange, we will need some more bread and things for dinner tonight. Do you think you could run into town to grab them?”

“I’ll try, but I’m not too familiar with the layout yet.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, that is, if you’re not too busy this morning Miss. Blasey?” Luc said with a smirk.

“Papa! You cannot just ask her to-“

“It’s okay, I’m pretty free on Sundays anyway.”

“You really do not have to.” Natalie pleaded.

“It’s fine, I can give you another lift as well.” Renee said and started to brush past the younger girl.

“But-“

“I insist…” Renee said quietly with a smirk and peeked icy blue eyes over the top of her goggles.

Natalie was stunned, her mouth hanging slightly agape. Heat rushed to her face as she stormed off to put away the Nessie doll. Luc only smiled, but when Renee disappeared back to her bike he couldn’t stop his brow from creasing in worry. Renee was already balancing her bike underneath her when Natalie joined her at the gate. The girl folded up a paper list and slid it into a pocket of a knapsack she had grabbed. The light blush on her cheeks was still present as she looked over to the older woman.

“I am very sorry about Papa’s brash words. I can walk if you’re busy today.”

“Natalie...” Renee sighed and slid her goggles to rest along her scarf. “Are we going to have this argument every time?”

“Non, It’s just I wouldn’t want to burden you.”

“It’s not a bother, trust me. I like your company. It’s a nice distraction from _other_ things.”

“Really?” Natalie said as she hopped on the back, swinging her leg around to sit behind the older woman. She clasped her arms around her stomach as they took off back to the village. “Most find me either annoying or not very sociable, never _distracting_.”

“Annoying? Who would ever say that?” Renee called over her shoulder, anger starting to tangle into her words.

“Oh plenty of people, ma amie! Mostly old men who are sacred I’m going to take their jobs.” Natalie giggled and clung tighter to the felt jacket. The girl sighed and rested her cheek along Renee’s shoulder. “It’s the woman who say I’m not a very sociable person.”

“How so?”

“I’m not the best in large gatherings, and social cues don’t come easy to me. I much rather be back at my workshop, there things make sense.”

The tension in Renee’s body faded. As Natalie spoke she could feel a sense of relatability. It wasn’t too long ago that the world didn’t make sense to her and even now there are moments she too struggles. It was at that point she noticed how tightly Natalie was clinging to her. The touch of another was alien and often filled with danger to her, but right now she felt calm. It was nice, at least until the motor started smoking.

They were still a ways outside of the village when the motor of her bike died. Quickly Renee shut off the bike and pulled to the side of the road. When she tried to start it again the ignition wouldn’t fire as well. She worked tirelessly to get the motor to turn before dismounting. Frustrated her boot made contact with a small rock that flew into the air for a few yards before smacking heavily into the trunk of a tree.

“God damnit! Of course this had to happen now.”

“Renee please, don’t shout. Do you mind if I take a look?” Natalie pleaded with her hands clasped in front of her.

“Do what you want.” Renee spat and slumped down to sit in the grass on the side of the road. Vaguely behind her she could hear some tinkering with the bike. As she sat the voices grew once more in a pounding headache of noise.

_Very mature, sulking like a toddler who broke her favorite toy._

_While she’s working to fix your irresponsibility, you should be grateful._

_Do you even like her?_

“You told me not to get attached.” She muttered angrily under her breath

_Some did, but you are anyway._

“It’s just that she’s… she’s… argh what do I do?”

 _Get up and watch._ The voice sternly commanded.

Reluctantly Renee got up from her position and circled the girl at a distance. She watched as Natalie already disconnected the motor with a small set of tools she seemed to retrieve from her knapsack. She worked swiftly removing the outer casing and inspecting the interior parts for damage. As the girl worked Renee unconsciously moved closer. Natalie either didn’t mind or didn’t notice as she easily shook out a few broken pieces and adjusted a few components. Renee watched as a flash of delight spread across Natalie’s face as she worked on the electrical components of the bike. The older woman crouched down and peered over the girl’s shoulder as she removed what seemed to be a burnt out spark plug from the motor.

“Ah hah! This seems to be the starting issue ma amie! The center electrode is corroded, look!”

Just as Natalie turned she must have not noticed how close Renee had gotten and accidently bumped noses. Their eyes locked and Renee could feel a quick gasp pull into the girl. Her eyes were just so blue and the light blush that painted her freckles made Renee’s knees weaken at the sight. Neither breathed for a moment until Natalie seemed to lose her balance at the odd angle she was couched at.

“Ah Merde!” She yelped while landing back on her ass.

“Nat!” Renee called and rushed reflexively to her side. She placed a hand on her shoulder as she looked around for anything sharp she might have landed on. “You okay?”

“Oui, I believe the only thing I hurt was my pride for that one. I’ve always been a bit of a klutz growing up.” She added with an embarrassed smile.

“Knowing that makes me worry about your day job involving a city’s worth of electricity.”

“Ugh! You sound just like Papa! I can handle myself just fine around electricity, thank you!”

“Right.” Renee chuckled softly. “Just not people.”

“Indeed.”

“I understand that, in fact…” Renee started to mumble, feeling familiar heat at the tips of her ears. “I’m sorry about earlier, I’ve been told I tend to have a short temper and didn’t mean to shout.”

Natalie merely smiled and brought her hand to lay on top of the one resting on her shoulder. She brought up the spark plug to tap against the older woman’s nose as she chided in a mischievous way.

“Next time try not to blow a fuse, ma amie.”

Quickly the woman stood up and folded her arms behind her back before skipping to the bike. Renee stood up as well but became stunned as when Natalie knelt down, she replaced the plug and shot a playful wink up at her.

“Maybe if you weren’t so _distracted_ you’d remember to do proper maintenance on your vehicle.”

_Oh, you’re so fucked…_


	4. To Repair a Broken Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Natalie fixed up the bike, they headed into town and Renee met the most unwelcome guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again thank you all for support of this work! Times have been a bit tough for me lately and writing this has been a wonderful distraction. I hope all of you are staying safe and are enjoying holiday festivities! Also note: There is going to be more action and less tooth rotting fluff in the next few chapters. I'll try to keep it rated teen, but that may change in the future one way or another.

Repairs were made promptly. Renee sulked off to the side, watching the blonde work and attempting to hide the hammering of her chest. After a few more minutes of reassembling the bike, Natalie eagerly hopped onto the seat and flipped the ignition. It clicked a few times before puttering to life. The motor ran smoothly as it settled into a low idle.

“Woohoo! All fixed up and ready to go!” Natalie cheered and jumped off the bike. Renee rushed over and ran her hands over the seat and handles. Relief flooded into her and her shoulders visibly relaxed.

“Thank god.”

“This bike must mean a lot to you.”

“It does, in a way.” Renee sighed and looked to the younger girl with a soft smile. “Thanks for fixing it.”

“Happy to help!” Natalie smiled brighter than the sun and gave a light salute.

“You’re really something, you know that?”

“Really something? I do not understand.”

“Let’s see, funny, caring, a literal genius…” Renee listed as she mounted the bike. She smirked over her shoulder as she adjusted her goggles. The words came tumbling out as if she was drunk. “And pretty damn cute as well.”

Blush coated Natalie’s nose and cheeks at the comment. She giggled a bit and fidgeted with her short hair. “You are too kind Renee.”

The delivery woman only shrugged and let her gaze fall back to the road. She felt the suspension sink a bit as the girl climbed on behind her once more. Hands wrapped around her stomach and a warm breath breezed by her ear.

“Do you tell things like this to all of the girls you like, or am I all you’re _current-_ ly interested in?”

Renee’s back stiffened as she felt the low chuckle reverberated from the girl behind her. Her lips formed a tight line and she twisted the throttle to get them moving once more.

“I was only pointing out the obvious.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“That’s too bad.”

Natalie grunted in disbelieve, but dropped the conversation to nuzzle into her jacket. They rode quietly for the remainder of the trip. As they entered into the village Renee was alerted to every odd look the other villagers gave to her. Some were confused and others smiled brightly at her. Together Renee gave a small tour of the town, pointing out the limited number of shops and entertainment it had to offer. She felt Natalie eagerly tighten her grip as the pasted a small hardware store. The window advertised the latest technology including a shiny new television set with a whole whopping fifteen inches of screen!

“It’s incredible they even sell those out here.”

“Do you have one back in the city?”

“Non, I prefer to listen to the radio. I like dancing to the music anyway.”

“You dance?” Renee chuckled back to her.

“Oui, I do sometimes at least. Is that a problem?” The girl huffed.

“I just thought with someone with your level of coordination…”

“How rude! And here I was about to offer to show you one day!”

“I think I might have just saved my toes…” Renee smirked to the annoyance of the girl behind her.

“Like I would ever dance with someone as mean as you!” She pouted and the image of them holding each other in a dance twisted something in Renee’s gut as she turned off the street.

They stopped at the end of an open air farmers market on the west side of town. Natalie had already skipped down a few stalls by the time Renee parked and took off her goggles. She watched her from a distance as she gathered the things from her list. She enjoyed how bubbly she was talking to the people running the stands and wished she could be that open with people. It was even more jarring when the voices rose into her head this time.

_Danger move!_

Reflexively Renee dived behind a few stacked up crates. She kept low and slid into an alley. Following the voices guidance she saw at the opposite end of the market a man dressed in a light color trench coat. He had a small briefcase with him and seemed to check something with his watch. He looked up and scanned the crowd seemingly not seeing what he was looking for he rushed away.

_He didn’t see you, you’re safe for now._

“Who was he?”

_Someone who wanted to find you, you need to run._

“No, I’m tired of running.” Renee said curtly and watched as Natalie picked up the last thing she needed only to now notice Renee was no longer to be found.

_They will all be in danger._

“Then I’ll fight.”

_For their sakes I hope you win…_

Renee gritted her teeth as she rose from her hiding place. It would be hard, but she finally had somewhere to call her own and will fight tooth and nail to keep it. She quietly approached Natalie, keeping in step behind her. The younger girl was beginning to worry about her missing companion. A frazzled hand went to tug at short blonde locks as she rounded the corner back to the parked bike. The street was empty and to her distaste, her new friend was nowhere to be found. The way she huffed out in frustration and crossed her arms was too cute to bear that Renee just had to tease her again. Swiftly she rested her hands on round hips and whispered into her ear.

“Surprise…”

“Eeek!” Natalie yelped and surprisingly had the strength to pull herself from her grasp. Renee back pedaled a few steps to avoid the wild haymaker that swung her way. She smirked at the girl.

“Merde Renee! You scared me! What game are you trying to play?!”

“You want to know the answer to your question? Come and find me.” She toyed and started to run.

Renee smiled as she heard distant boots steps following her. She quickly realized she could easily out run the engineer, so she slowed and baited the girl through the town and away from where that man was. Feeling safer she slowed once more. Anxiety returned as she headed into a wooded area. She couldn’t hear heavy boot steps anymore and the voices refused to say anything of help. Just as she rounded back to town she heard a rustle of leaves above her. She couldn’t react in time as a wild Natalie fell down from a tree on top of her. Both of them tumbled off the path and down into a small gully. They came to rest cradled in the roots of the old trees. Natalie ended up straddling the older woman, quickly pinning her hands above her head. Her cap had slipped off her head in the tumble and Natalie’s once white shirt was dirtied and slightly untucked from her pants. The girl above her was panting hard.

“I… Caught you!” She exclaimed between breaths.

“Using the trees to get the drop on me, Clever.” Renee smirked

“Size and strength aren’t everything. Now that I caught you, what shall I do to you?” Natalie hummed and ghosted her lips along Renee’s jaw as she leaned down watching her reaction carefully. The older woman only melted into her touch. Her icy blue eyes softening and fluttering closed while turning away to expose more of her neck to the young engineer. Natalie bypassed the tempting offer to whisper into her ear.

“You’re so pretty, Renee.”

Like a bucket of iced water the words shook her to her core. She was suddenly panicked and wrenched her hands free from Natalie’s grasp. The engineer retreated to sit back on her heels. Her hands flew up in concern as Renee lifted herself onto her elbows. Pale wide eyes stared at her searching for anything, deception or otherwise.

“Renee! I’m sorry I must have misunderstood! I didn’t mean to-“

“What did you say?” Renee spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.

“I-I said that you’re, very pretty.”

“You think so?” Renee said somehow even smaller. Natalie could only smile at the insecurity this mysterious woman showed her. She cooed as she tucked stray black hair around her ear.

“Oui, Cherie. My favorite part is how your eyes seem to pierce right through me. Even I cannot _resist_ that wonderful look you have sometimes.”

Natalie giggled and the world seemed so dull in comparison to that light noise. Nobody had ever called her pretty before that she could remember. Her body was only ever used as a tool, a container that can be easily manipulated to fit the various experiments she underwent. Her mind was shaken with so many possibilities at what this girl was hinting at.

“But Nat, we’re both woman. It’s not like we can have a relationship like that.” Renee stuttered.

“Oh?” Natalie smiled and danced a few fingers around the buttons of her jacket. “What type of relationship did you have in mind?”

“I’ve never been-“

“It’s quite common in Paris you know. Though most don’t like to bring it up, often they settle for standard affairs.”

“Have you ever-“ Renee was cut off once again but this time with a gloved finger pressed to her lips.

“It’s quite rude to ask about ones history Renee, but non. Like I said, woman don’t really find me very sociable. Now, do I get to hear the answer to my question?”

Renee was panicking. The voices were all just as clueless. They gave her all sorts of advice and warnings it became too much. She sat up and rested her hands on the younger girl’s thighs. She watched the girls blue eyes glance down to her lips several times as she paused inches away.

“Your freckles are cute.” She blurted out loud.

“Thank you, you are very adorable when you stall for time Renee.”

“I’m not stalling.”

“But you are.” Natalie countered and raised a hand to rest along a sharp jaw.

Renee could vaguely feel another one start to fidget with one of her belt loops. Those thoughts were fleeting as Natalie tilted her jaw up and closed her eyes. The young girl crashed into her a bit clumsily, her lips almost missing. Their teeth clanked awkwardly as they connected. She was so stunned she didn’t even know how to kiss back at first. It was an embarrassing first kiss and Renee couldn’t wait for another.

Natalie on the other hand wanted to flee into a dark hole and only come out next spring. She started to move away, blush going all the way down her neck, but she was held in place by strong hands digging into her legs. Quickly Renee flipped their positions and held the girl down by her shoulders. The engineer refused to look at her, sighting embarrassment. Renee let out a chuckle and a sheepish smile.

“Uh, Practice makes perfect?”

“You’d want to try again after that?!”

Renee nodded eagerly and bent down. She brought their lips together a bit slower this time. It was a pleasant feeling and as Renee managed to suck Natalie’s bottom lip into her mouth a low groan escaped the girl. Distantly she felt a set of short nails start to scratch into her shoulder blades. Her own hands started to wonder down Natalie’s body. They found purchase on her waist and seemed to have slipped under her dress shirt. Meanwhile Renee’s teeth mercilessly gnawed at the younger girl’s lower lip.

Natalie was mewling under her as her legs hooked tightly to Renee’s hips. Curious fingers climbed higher up under the white shirt, but stopped when the smooth skin roughened significantly under her right palm. Natalie broke the kiss and quickly grabbed Renee’s wrists to push them away.

“I- I think that’s far enough for today!” Natalie squeaked and started to slide herself away. “Uh, Papa will be worried if I stay out too long.

The girl hopped to her feet and stretched happily. Renee remained where she left her. The woman was looking at her hands and touched her lips not believing what had just transpired.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No! Of course not! Well maybe we both got a little carried away, but” Natalie cooed and bent down and placed a sweet kiss to her cheek. “I definitely enjoyed it!”

Renee looked up to her with that blessed little smile she has and soft round eyes. She reached for Natalie’s cuff and hesitated before speaking in a familiar soft voice.

“One more please?”

“Of course, Cherie…”


	5. Still Connected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy about recent events, Renee started to let her guard down. Her friend take notice, as do others.

September 25th, 1945

“Hey, you smiling this much is starting to creep a guy out.”

They were in the mail room filling their messenger bags early in the morning before their shift started. The casual smile Renee was wearing faded to a small frown as she regarded her coworker. He was handsome and around her age. His fluffy brown hair and beard highlighted what he would refer to at his debutant smile.

“Elliott, shut up for once.”

“I’m just saying that something must have happened over the weekend. You’re usually so cold, especially in the mornings and you smiling so much… Well it’s creeping me out.”

Quickly Elliot dropped his bag and set his hands on the shorter woman’s shoulders. “Wait, you’re not falling in love with me, are you? Because that would be redicu- redockul- redi- … That would be crazy.”

A sharp glare greeted him from the shorter woman. She looked up to him with nothing short of murder in her eyes.

“If that ever were to happen, please put a bullet in my head. Since I would have finally lost whatever sanity I have left.”

“Geeze, I can’t be that bad. But, seriously. I gotta know what’s got you in such a happy mood. May save my skin one day when you start snapping necks.”

Renee huffed out a laugh and slid from his grasp to continue filling her bag. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, _you_ certainly had a nice day off. I didn’t hear the truck come in till three in the morning.”

“What can I say? I can’t keep the ladies off me!” Elliott flexed and threw a blinding smile to his coworker. “That and… The traffic was terrible around the city.” He added more deflated.

“How was your mom?” Wraith said with a more gentle tone, seeing past the deception.

“She’s good, you know you should really meet her. You two could really bond, you know. Failing memories and all that.”

“Elliott…” Renee sighed into her bag, but as she slid it over her shoulder she couldn’t help the little quirk to her lips as she walked by him. “You know, I actually wouldn’t mind that.”

“Renee for all the time I knew you, you have never scared me more than this morning.”

Truth be told she was in an odd mood the past two days. Half of her wanted to run into that man she saw so she could beat the shit out of him for following her, and the other half only wanted to see Natalie again. Even as she was working her route and busy dropping letters and advertisements into mailboxes she couldn’t help but bring her fingers up to touch her lips.

It was so good feeling. As best she could remember she had never touched another in that way. Even though they had just met it was like they’ve been friends her whole life. It scared her at how vulnerable she made herself in front of the woman so quickly. It had taken Marven several weeks to get her to even talk to him and he had provided so much for her, without so much as a thank you. The voices seemingly were just as lost as she was. Which makes sense since they were just different parts of herself.

She thought deeply on this as she was finishing her route. The last stretch of addresses were close enough to allow her to make the trip on foot. As she walked by a small alleyway between the buildings the voices shook her out of her thoughts.

_To your left!_

Sadly Renee’s reflexes proved to be a hair slow as from out of the alleyway popped the man she had saw at the market. He found purchase on the strap of her messenger bag and pulled the small woman away from the street. Before she could scream for help a leather gloved hand with a rag was shoved against her mouth. She put up a struggle, biting and punching, even kicking her legs up into the air to throw off his balance. It grew tiresome though as she started to feel sleep setting in. The world grew dreamy around her as she heard the man speak to her. His voice was smooth and carried a more eastern accent.

“I’m sorry, this will be over soon. You were tough to find. Don’t take it personally. They would have gotten to you, one way or another.”

Something kicked into Renee as she heard the man speak. It sounded remorseful, even regretful at his actions. The voices screamed in her head to fight. The headache was pounding with a familiar intensity. With her remaining strength she wrenched the rag away and felt her fingers go numb as she reached out.

“Not today.”

The pull of the other world called to her. She clung on to it as one would do to a mother. There she felt the cold encase her and pull her into its embrace. The world shifted to hues of grays and blues and she felt free. She ran from the man as fast as her legs could take her. The drugs in her system inhibited her stay in that world as she stumbled out of it a few streets later. She made it back to her apartment on wobbly legs. As she finished locking the door she collapsed onto the concreate. Blood dripped onto the stone as she raised herself on shaky arms. She wiped her nose to see more blood coating her finger tips.

The headache slowed as her system calmed itself from the adrenalin. She stared at the blood as the background hum of the other world faded from her mind. Her body shivered from the cold and her fingers shook.

“I didn’t think I could still connect to it.”

_The void can never leave us now…_

_Use it to your advantage._

Grunting she crawled to her cot and dragged out a crate from underneath. The plain long crate only had a thin layer of dust to mark its contents. Inside the wooden crate was dry grass insulation and laying cradled in the center was two mat black weapons. One was larger, more bulky with a wide stock. On the boxy receiver was the name MAS-38 stamped into the metal along with a serial number. The second was a pistol. The thin barrel was long for a handgun and as Renee held it once more she noticed dried blood still clung to the Luger’s textured grips. She checked the condition of both before being satisfied and lifted up the thin mattress of her cot. Near the head of her bed was a sheathed knife. It was an odd looking double sided blade. She strapped it to her thigh and hesitated looking at the crate once more.

_You’ll need it to control your abilities…_

_You can handle it now, you escaped that man didn’t you…_

_They will go after Natalie as well._

“I won’t let that happen.” Renee spat and started to dig through the crate once more. Near the bottom she found what she was searching for, a metal and leather bracer. The cuff took up most of her forearm and the once black leather was still splattered with a dark red as she examined it. She tapped on a small screen that flickered to life with error messages. She strapped it on and attempted to control her breathing, slowly the messages went away and a new one appeared.

Portal Ready 100%

From her position on the ground she flicked her wrist into the air and a blueish gray portal was ripped open. Slowly she stood up and holstered the pistol. The woman held the submachine gun close to her chest as she stepped through into the cold void.

“Here goes nothing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...too much research went into a ww2 themed irl R-99 and a wingman :D


	6. Project: Wraith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a scientific breakthrough, Natalie received new revelations about her new companion and she got more then she bargained for. Natalie POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Glad to still see so much love for this story! Now this is a historical AU but I am adding a few more sci-fi elements that aren't the most accurate. I'll try my best to blend these elements into the story the best I can, but Natalie's and Renee's skills will mirror more of the apex lore then anything else. Also *WARNING*: Violence/guns/blood and harsh language incoming. I personally don't thinks it's too intense but to those who are a bit more affected be warned. Next chapter will be lighter. Thank you. <3

September 27th, 1945

A cool breeze shuffled the papers scattered around her desk. It did well to vent the soldering fumes coming from working on her latest project. Natalie sat back after making a final weld. She had ended up working well into the afternoon on this one. On her desk lay a singular white glove that was modified with small electrodes on the finger tips. Natalie hummed happily as she inspected her work. She removed the glove on her left hand revealing excessive scaring patterned around her hand and fingers. A small frown graced her lips as she covered the spider web scars with the new glove.

She flexed her fingers, finding satisfaction in the range of movement she was still able to have. She excitedly stood up and threaded a wire down the sleeve of her blue turtleneck and connected it to the glove. With a flip of a switch on the back of her belt the electrodes hummed to life. With a large smile she adjusted some safety glasses onto her face with her free hand. Her rubber soled boots patted on the floor as she grabbed a small rock and placed it on an insulated mat on her desk. With a single finger she tapped the rock. There was a brief hum and a loud zap as the rock was shattered into a dozen pieces. Remembering to turn off the switch on her belt, Natalie jumped and clapped her hands in excitement.

“Fantastique! I couldn’t be happier with the output! All the power you could ever need, right at your fingertips!”

Just as Natalie was celebrating victory and already coming up with numerus ways this new device could help her projects, she heard the rubber wheels of a vehicle approach the house.

_That cannot be Papa, he said he would be gone until Monday at the earliest._

Peeking out the window gave her the answer to this mysterious driver. The truck was a little on the old side. The light green color gave way to patches of rust in some places, but the logo on the driver’s door was plane to see. Natalie scrambled outside and trotted down the path just as the man was about open her mailbox.

“Monsieur Witt! How are you?”

Elliott stood quickly at the call and gave the woman a small smile. As Natalie approached she could see the dark bags around his eyes. He leaned against the box with a handful of letters in his hand.

“Better now that I got to see you and that smile today, Miss. Paquette.” He winked.

“Is that a common trait for delivery people? Do they all flirt with the people they deliver to?”

“Nope, I believe I’m just a special case.” He chuckled and handed her the small stack of mail.

“Oh, I don’t know. You have quiet the competition with your co-worker.”

“Who Marv? Yeah he’s nice and all, but I don’t think he’s the type to go out with people.”

“I was talking about Renee.”

Elliott’s eyebrows shot up and a wide smirk graced his lips. He stepped closer and lowered his voice as a giddy school girl sharing secrets.

“You’re kidding! Don’t tell me that iceberg actually showed interest in someone! Because that would be signi- signef- really amazing.”

“She showed more than just interest, to be perfectly honest.” Natalie blushed and played with her short hair. “Where is she anyway? She usually drops off Papa’s mail.”

Elliott’s mind blowing excitement for his friend finally seeing someone was darkened as he remembered why he was doing this route in the first place.

“She disappeared after completing her route two days ago. Her apartment was locked from the inside and she was nowhere to be found.”

“Is she alright!?”

“I don’t know, how much has she told you about her past?”

“Not much, honestly.” Natalie huffed and folded her arms across her chest. “I saw the number tattooed to her arm, but she didn’t want to talk about it.”

There was a brief pause as Elliott gave her a suggestive look to lighten the mood. Natalie blushed deeper and held out her hand.

“It was nothing like that! It was raining and she took off her wet jacket when we found cover.”

“I’m only teasing, kid. But yeah. Renee was much different when Marven found her on the side of the road over a year ago.”

“The side of the road?”

“Yeah, I remember when he first brought her in. She was so thin, and I had thought Marv kidnaped her from a mental asylum by how paranoid she was. She almost stabbed me when I first brought her food!” He said with a touch of fondness on his lips.

“I don’t know what she went through, but it must have affected her memory. She probably didn’t tell you much about her because she can’t remember her life before she ended up like that.”

“Why would she run though?”

“Look, Natalie, I don’t know. But when Marv brought her in she was armed to the teeth and covered in blood.” Elliott said with the most seriousness she had ever heard from him. “I know Renee wouldn’t hurt anyone she sees as a friend, but please be careful Miss. Paquette. I’m not always sure who’s in that head of hers.”

Natalie nodded trying to process this new information as Elliott gave a quick pat to her shoulder before hopping back into his truck. Slowly Natalie retreated to her house. She set the mail on the table in disbelief.

_Covered in blood? Armed to the teeth? And now on the run. I’m not sure who’s scarier that Renee or what she was running from…_

Just as Natalie plopped into a kitchen chair somehow exhausted, there was a knock at the door. Thinking that it was just Elliott who must have forgot something she went over to the door and opened it wide. What she saw wasn’t Elliott, but a man in a light trench coat. He wore a small frown and had eastern features to his face. Just as she was about to close the door he approached and from his back a small baton was pulled out. She couldn’t dodge the sudden attack as the baton made contact with the side of her head. The force of it threw her spinning to the ground and the world went dark.

-

She was still laying on her side when she woke up. Her head throbbed painfully as she shifted. She went to raise a hand to the wound only to find them bound behind her back. Rope was tightly fastened around her wrists. She tried to struggle free but it only led to painful burns on her wrists. Sitting up to her knees she took in her situation.

It was hard to see, most of the lights were out. The only thing that remained were low hanging fixtures where lights would be placed. Outside she could vaguely hear rain hitting the roof and the smell of mildew was strong here. She seemed to be in some sort of an abandoned office judging by the tall filing cabinets lined against a wall. It wasn’t totally abandoned as she continued to look around. There was a bucket filling with rainwater a top a cabinet next to her and near the remaining source of light a figure stirred at a desk. Her mind was desperately piecing a way out from this situation as the man approached her again.

“So you’re awake.”

“What do you want from me?!” She spat pure venom.

“If everything works out, nothing. So sit tight and it will be over soon.” He replied tiredly.

“If not me, then Renee. What do you want from her?”

The man said nothing and returned to his desk. While his back was turned Natalie scooted closer to the cabinet with the bucket of water. He returned a moment later with a manila folder in his hands. He crouched down in front of her and if given a different situation she might have found his boyish features cute. As he moved she noted the pistol he had holstered under his arm and recoiled slightly. He pulled out a single photo and held it up to the girl.

It showed only a single person in three quarters view. She was standing against a blank concreate wall. The person was shaven bald and bound in a strait jacket. Her eyes were milky white and sewn into the collar of the jacket were the numbers 61137. The expression the person had was off putting, somewhere between fear and murderous anger.

“Renee…” Natalie said in disbelieve.

“Subject 61137, used in contingency with Project: Wraith. Operation status: Successful. Containment Status: At large.” The man read off another sheet within the folder.

“Project: Wraith?”

“The ultimate super soldier. One man that could turn the tide of an entire battle.”

Before snapping the folder shut Natalie was able to get a glimpse of the emblem marked at the top of the page. The familiar bird clutching the swastika brought up terrible memories that she had to force down for the moment.

“But, the war is over! Why continue this?”

“When The Third Reich fell, the Nazis started to burn all evidence of human experimentation along with other war crimes. They can’t burn what’s missing Miss. Paquette.”

“How do you know my name?”

“I’ve been watching.” The man said and pulled out a few photographs from his folder. He laid them out in front of her. One was when they were riding past the town when they first met. Another was outside her home, Renee looking at her fondly as she embraced a little green stuffed animal. The last was in the forest, Renee was on top of her kissing her passionately. Her hands were causing the shirt she wore to ride up exposing her midriff and more scared skin on her left side.

Natalie swallowed thickly at the photos. “Then what happens now?”

“She seems to be attached to you, so we will wait until she appears. I’ve already sent word to my employers that she is here and my job is complete, but I hope she will see reason and come with me quietly to avoid any more collateral damage.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“It’s a job, trust me I hate them just as much as you probably do, but they have something important to me as well. I intend to get her back.”

“Coward…” She hissed. A gloved hand went up to her face to grip tightly along her jaw.

“What did you say?!”

“You’re a coward!” She said spiting in his face. “Doing their work like, like, un putain de chien!”

Whether or not he understood the meaning of the phrase something ignited in the man and he angrily slammed her wounded head into the cabinet. The jolt was painful but worth it as the bucket above tumbled into the man, soaking him head to toe. He threw her to the side and stood up wiping water from his eyes. Natalie can feel warm liquid start to fall down the side of her head as she righted herself. Her ears were ringing as she backed herself against a partially smashed wall.

“You Maechunbu!” He cursed and threw the folder back on his desk along with the photos. Spinning on his heels he stomped towards her, brushing by the low hanging lighting fixtures. One was still draped around his shoulder as he drew his pistol and aimed the muzzle at her head a few inches away.

“You will remain quite until she gets here or I will make you quite!”

“Back away from her.” A smooth voice came from the entrance to the room.

Though the world was spinning a bit she saw Renee standing in front of the door. She looked a bit frazzled but her body was calm as she shifted the gun in her shoulder. It was aiming at the man without a single ounce of shake.

“Put the gun down and surrender yourself, or she dies.” He called back gesturing to Natalie with a small flick of his wrist.

The movement caught Natalie’s attention as the fixture slipped around his shoulder once more. Quickly she traced the line up the ceiling and maneuvered her hands to flip the switch on her belt. Behind her she carefully reached her hand into the broken wall and began to feel around.

Renee was starting to lower the SMG down to the ground as a loud pop sounded followed by the crackle of electricity and agonizing screams. The man collapsed to the floor, luckily still breathing but unconscious for the moment. Steam rose off his now partially charred jacket. Renee dropped the gun and ran to where Natalie knelt. The engineer quickly shut off the switch and backed away as Renee came closer.

“Nat it’s me, Renee.” The woman said with her brows threading together in worry.

“And what exactly _is_ Renee?” She countered full of caution.

“To some, a weapon. Or at least should have been a weapon. But, I’m not Nat! At least I don’t want to be.”

Again Renee’s face creased with worry as she reached out to touch Natalie’s cheek. The hand was cool and soothing to her skin. It grounded her as she nuzzled into the touch.

“Then what do you want to be?” She asked quietly moving a bit closer.

“Well first…” Renee gave a low laugh. “I’d like to deliver your mail.”

“You missed the past few days though.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll be better about that from now on.”

Natalie giggled and touched her forehead to the woman’s. Renee slid her hands down her arms and cut the rope clean through with her knife. Once her hands were free they shot up to hold Renee’s face. Natalie watched closely at her reaction. Light blush coated pale skin and wide blue eyes darted up and down.

_Those eyes in the picture weren’t blue like these. That Renee isn’t this one. This one is mine…_

Natalie pulled them together into a burning kiss. It simmered in sweetness as she dug her hands into frizzy black hair. Strong arms wrapped around her waist and she felt wetness drift down her face. She pulled back to see a few tears slid down her companions cheek and drip off her chin.

“Renee, what wrong?!”

“Nothing…” Renee smiled and shook her head. She wiped away the tears before continuing. “It’s just, I’m happy you’re alright.”

“I am, why don’t we get out of here?”

Renee nodded and stood up. She helped Natalie to her wobbly feet. The older woman made herself busy reclaiming her weapon as Natalie scooped up the folder from the desk. As they were leaving there was a pain filled groan from the other side of the room.

“If you go now, they’ll send him to reclaim you! Unlike me he won’t hesitate to kill both of you!” The man said desperately with a pleading voice.

“I’ll take that chance.” Renee shot back and ushered Natalie out of the room.


	7. Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After such a harrowing experience left Natalie a little beat up, Renee took it upon herself to fix her up. Renee POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas Eve, to those of you who celebrate! A nice soft chapter is my gift to you! Thank you all so much for your support, and I hope all of you are safe and happy this holiday season. <3

The ride back to town was dark and full of drizzle. The headlamp of her bike illuminated the road just enough to keep them on it. The rest was filled with thoughts about the girl behind her. Natalie wasn’t doing well. The blow to her head had started to affect her more once they were moving. Twice they had to stop so she could vomit off to the side off the road. The bleeding from the wound luckily slowed, but it left her skin cold and clammy. As they hit a small bump she could feel the girl cling tighter to her. She was shivering like a leaf caught in the wind. She shook and asked for her to pull over once more.

Renee felt completely helpless as she crouched down next to her, rubbing her back waiting for the nausea to end. “Natalie please, we can stay at my place tonight. It’s closer and if that makes you uncomfortable I can sleep in the mailroom or something.”

“Non, I mean oui, we should go to your house. The longer I stay up the more dizzy I seem to get.”

Renee nodded and helped the woman back onto her bike. She rode as fast as she could, though the weather had other plans. It was a complete down pour by the time they made it to the post office. Quickly she gathered the younger girl into her arms. If she could actually concentrate, she may have been embarrassed.

“Don’t be afraid, Okay? I got you.” Renee said worriedly at the slow nod Natalie gave.

With a grunt of effort and a flick of her hand she ripped another portal open, this time big enough for both of them. Out of the corner of her eye she watched in amusement at the wonder on Natalie’s sleepy face. Quickly she slipped into the dimension that had her door open then switch back to their original. The portal opened again into her messy room. Natalie stared wide eyed and opened mouthed at the portal that lingered in the air behind them. Renee kicked the open crate back under her bed and sat the girl on the thin mattress. She busied herself by gathering the clothes on the floor, including her soaked jacket, to one side and rummaged around for a first aid kit. The portal hummed for a minute or two before disappearing all together. Franticly Renee set the kettle on and grabbed whatever thin blankets she could to wrap around the shivering girl. She even took off her own scarf to help bundle the freezing woman.

“Is green tea alright? I doubt you’d want coffee right now.”

“Oui…” Natalie said reflexively still staring at where the portal was. “Renee what was that place?”

“They called it the other world, to me it’s just the void.” Renee sighed and opened up the med kit. She sat next to the girl offering whatever little body heat she gave off to stop the shivering. There she started to work on checking the head wound.

“Amazing, and you can go there whenever you like?”

“No, it takes a lot of concentration and energy.”

“It said in your file that you were the only successful subject.” Natalie said as she pulled the folder out from under her turtle neck. The edges were damp but intact. As she quickly flipped through the files she passed the photos of them. She coughed and swiftly hid them behind the report. “It, Uh. It says here all prior subjects were deemed unable to connect to the other world.”

“Can we not talk about that please?”

“Oh, pardon. I forgot it was very difficult for you. Excuse me I had grown curious about this _void_.”

“You don’t think I’m some sort of freak?”

“Non. Of course not. At least not any more than I am.” She said with a smile and stuck out her tongue in jest. “Though I never expected you to live in the post office.”

“That’s the weird part of me you didn’t expect?” Renee chuckled and got up to grab the hot kettle and pour a cup of tea.

She handed the chipped mug to Natalie and set to work removing her weapons and setting them on the small table. More than once she caught the girl lost in thought and as her hand went up to fidget with her bangs she grimaced at the dry blood that matted down blonde locks.

“There’s a shower in that room.” Renee pointed to the only other room in this apartment. “Water’s always hot at least.”

“I think I might, I’d hate to dirty your blankets.”

“Just be careful not to reopen that wound. It wasn’t deep but it could still bleed a lot.”

Natalie nodded and shuffled her way into the bathroom. Anxiety was taking over the older woman. She busied herself with tidying up her room, even folding her laundry quickly and triple checking the locks. There were two sides of Renee fighting for dominance right now, only highlighted by the voices piping up once more.

_There’s another going to be after you, you need to be ready to defend yourself!_

_Natalie is naked in YOUR shower! Right now!_

The latter thought brought crimson to her cheeks as she heard the uneven splattering of water on the tile. She paced around the room when she could no longer distract herself cleaning. She was caught off guard as the bathroom door cracked open. Warm steam flowed out into the cool room and the sound of the water evened out for a moment.

“Renee?” Natalie called peeking her head shyly out of the doorway. “You wouldn’t have a spare set of clothes I could borrow, would you? Mine are pretty gross to be honest.”

Stunned Renee managed a nod and quickly grabbed a large sweater and a pair of sleep pants from her clean clothes. She attempted to avoid starring at her cute wet hair and bare shoulders as much as possible as she handed her the clothes. She couldn’t help but notice the unique scar seemed to travel all the way down her left arm as she reached for the bundle. Natalie must have noticed her mistake as she quickly pulled back and thanked her through the door. In a way it was beautiful. Not the fact that she went through so much pain, but the fact that she could smile so much after.

“Maybe I’ll be like that too.” She mumbled happily to herself.

Natalie came out a few minutes later, only to push Renee into the bathroom after her. Her mood had luckily lightened after the shower as she pushed on the older woman’s back. She pinched her nose and turned her face away dramatically as Renee stepped on warm tile.

“Your turn! You stink! Don’t come out until you’re clean!”

Even more luckily the play sparked some boldness in Renee as she spun to face the girl. She took the girl’s chin in her fingers and smirked at her. “If you wanted to shower with me so bad, all you had to do is ask…”

“Maybe I might just take you up on that offer…” Natalie shot back, calling her bluff. Poor Renee easily folded under that sweet stare and she quietly backed up in the room and shut the door. She could hear Natalie’s teasing laugher from the other side of the door and her face exploded into blush. Quickly she washed herself down, taking only a moment to enjoy the warmth before worrying about the girl outside being alone. She brushed the snarls out of her hair before throwing a clean tank top and boxers on. As she stepped outside she was greeted by a small squeal coming from her table.

“Ah you look so pretty with your hair down! C’est beau!”

“Thanks.” She said blushing.

“Is that all you usually wear to bed?”

“Oh this? No, I usually don’t wear a top.” Renee said a little too matter-of-factly. “Too constricting.”

“I-I see, um thank you for wearing one.” Natalie blushed and continued to write something on a forgotten paper ad on the table.

“What are you doing?”

“I just had this brilliant idea for more security measures to put in place around your apartment! I just had to write it down!”

“Natalie, that’s amazing. But you need to get some rest. You may have a minor concussion.”

“I will, I will! Just one more moment. Sel tu plait!”

Still continuing to write Renee rolled her eyes and placed her hands softly around Natalie’s shoulders. She tugged a bit to get her to lean back. “Nat, bed. Now.”

“You really like calling me that. You must like me then?”

“Thought that was obvious.”

“Well you never know, this could be all one very elaborate prank or even a dream!”

“Want me to prove it’s not a dream?” Renee said lowly into her ear making her shiver. Natalie leaned back and stared up at her.

“Please do.” She said as her eyes fluttered shut and her lips puckered adorably. The pinch of pain to her cheek was enough to make her squeak in surprise.

“See, not a dream. Bed.”

“You’re mean Renee.” Natalie pouted as she made her way over to the cot. She looked baffled as Renee didn’t join her. “Where are you going to sleep?”

“Like I said I’ll stay in the mail room.”

“Non! There’s plenty of room here.” Natalie protested and shifted herself against the wall. She grabbed Renee’s hand and pleaded with her large deep blue eyes. “Stay with me?”

How could she say no to those eyes? She nodded and dropped Natalie’s hand. She ran to check the locks a fourth time before turning off the light and taking her place next to Natalie. It was awkward. There wasn’t enough space for both of them to lay on their backs so Renee settled with laying on her side and Natalie draping an arm around her. She felt constricted again, but this time there was so much warmth to it. She felt Natalie’s breathing even out in her hair. She felt her fingers flex along her stomach and the arm that cradled her head was splayed out in front of her. She traced the raised red lines on her hand with her eyes in the dim light and felt herself slip away memorizing those complex patterns.

“Bonne nuit ma Cherie…”

“Night Nat...”


	8. Fortified

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Natalie's recovery from her kidnapping, new defenses were built to defend against a possible new foe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, hope the holidays have been treating you well. I will try my best to keep uploading on my regular schedule, though it seems like 2020 is trying it's best to stop that. I will upload Thursday's chapter, but the week after may be a bit sketchy as many of those close to me are currently dealing with covid (I tested negative on the rapid test, but am still self quarantining). I will post an update sometime this coming weekend to inform you if anything changes. With that I please ask you all to stay safe, thank you. :)

October 2nd, 1945

Time moves on. Renee was chaining up her bike at the office when she heard footsteps grow closer. She huffed and slid her empty messenger bag back around her side. Elliott was smiling widely and leaned on the garage wall as the woman worked on putting away her vehicle.

“So, you gonna tell me why we got Natalie literally hanging around the office?” He whispered and gestured with his chin to the girl half buried in a control panel on the second story. Her legs were awkwardly wrapped around a shaky ladder and her blue overalls were much dirtier then when she saw them this morning.

“She’s working on an experimental project to beef up the security around here. At least that’s what I got out of her.”

“And Marv’s just, cool with that?”

“Elliott, I live here. Marv said he would’ve begged her to if she didn’t offer first.”

“Sooooo, you two are pretty close. You sure there isn’t an alteri- aultiar- alt-, another motive?” He whispered wagging his eyebrows. At that point Natalie dragged herself out of the wall and wiped her brow on the sleeve of another white dress shirt. She turned around and smiled at the pair on the other end of the garage. Her bright smile highlighted the streak of dirt that went across her nose.

“Salut Monsieur Witt and Mademoiselle Blasey! I’m almost done with the rewiring and will be able to test shortly!” She called and returned to working on something in the wall.

“Elliott…” Renee began to sigh but was cut off as his hand clutched her shoulder.

“We we’re so worried when you disappeared. I don’t think Marvin slept a wink the two days while you were gone. To think someone is still looking for your sorry ass… Not to mention I had to do all of your routes!”

Renee’s lips found themselves into an embarrassed smile as she brought up her hands to smooth down the frizzy fly-aways under her cap. “Look, is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

She was answered with a hug. The larger man easily lifted her to the balls of her feet as he circled his arms around her waist. Her hands already up in the air she hesitantly settled them around his shoulders. Elliott spoke to her in a serious yet gentle tone as he held her.

“Just, like, let us know next time you decide to Houdini out of your room, alright?”

Renee’s eyes went wide and slowly she returned the affectionate squeeze. She buried her face into the felt of his uniform. It smelt subtlety of whisky and cinnamon and comforted her in a way she had never felt before. It was different then when Natalie held her. Still nice, but a different tone, like the acoustic version of her favorite song. She squeezed tighter. If Marvin was like a younger brother to her, she supposed Elliott would be something akin to an older one. Always picking on her, but deep down he cares just as much if not more than anyone else. She nuzzled into the fabric committing the scent to her sparse memories.

“I will, I’m sorry.” She mumbled into his shoulder.

After a moment they separated, but before Renee could leave his grasp he pinned the shorter woman under his arm and lightly ground his knuckles into her hair.

“All this cus’ you found a girl right?! You big softy!” He whisper yelled as she flailed under him. She escaped his grapple easily but her hair was now wrecked and half of it was out of her bun. She stepped away to redo her hair and glared at him with murder in her eyes.

“What was that you said the other day about _snapping necks_?”

“And I’ll take that as my que to leave!” He said and backpedaled into the offices connected to the garage.

Renee huffed as she saw him escape out the room. A small voice had alerted her to Natalie trying to hide her giggles from atop the ladder. She strolled over with her arms crossed now they were alone. It was starting to dive into the afternoon by now and the sun was setting earlier every day. It cast the whole garage in warm oranges as she strode over. She couldn’t help but watch as the sunlight refracted in thin blonde hair making it look like a fluffy warm cloud sitting on top of the younger woman’s head. She would’ve kept staring to if her eyes didn’t catch the mischievous smile thrown down at her from the top of the ladder.

“Enjoying the view, Cherie?”

“Mmmhmm, not every day an angel gets delivered to our office.”

“Renee!” She blushed. “You shouldn’t say those words so casualty.”

“Then how should I say them?” She smirked and rested against the ladder, carful to keep it steady for the girl. The woman only continued to work on the panel as she spoke.

“Hmm… Maybe as if you were in a movie perhaps? I remember going to see many in the city with papa when I was younger. They sometimes frightened me, and I never liked the loud action-y ones, so maybe if you were in a romantic movie?”

“I’m not sure if I’ve ever even seen one of those Nat.”

“Oh mon dieu!” Natalie shouted and twisted on the ladder to look down at her. “Then I certainly _must_ take you to one! We could visit Paris as well while we’re at it! I can show you the best sights and we can eat at the most amazing restaurants you ever ate at!”

As Natalie happily bounced around on the shaky ladder, squealing about ideas for things to do in her home city, Renee noticed a bolt loosening near the top of the ladder. The voices guided her to act as the ladder fell apart. Natalie luckily fell into the safety Renee’s arms and together they crashed into the hard cement of the garage floor. Natalie shook the hair out of her eyes as she sat in Renee’s lap. Her eyes darted around looking for any sign of pain.

“Ah Cherie! Je suis desole! I had forgotten Monsieur Marvin had told me the ladder was quite old! You aren’t hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m fine. Just glad I caught you.”

“Oui that would’ve been terrible if you hadn’t.” Natalie sighed as she glanced to the heap of old timber and metal lying next to them.

“Don’t worry, I’m always here to catch a falling angel…” Renee said lowly and feeling bold, she placed a small peck to a freckled cheek. Natalie blushed as she giggled.

“Now I know you’re lying! No one can come up with lines that silly without watching a movie or two.”

“Must be a natural talent.”

“That, or you just couldn’t _resist_ me!” Natalie continued to giggle at her pun and they sat in silence for a moment before she continued more seriously. “Hey… That was the first time you-kissed-me.”

“I- Uh, suppose it was.”

“You’re pretty clingy today too. I saw you and Elliott. Have you always been so close?”

“Not in the beginning, but lately I’ve been learning that it’s alright to have these feelings. It’s alright to have them, as long as you’re willing to protect them.”

“I guess so, especially when others are willing to do the same. Come on, I’ve luckily finished all of my preparations to the building and I want to show you all what I’ve done!”

Natalie sprang up from her lap with renewed energy. She gathered all of the postal workers together. Being that there was only three of them it made things much easier. Once gathered in the garage she had them lock down the building like they always did. Satisfied in their performance she handed Renee a little remote that had approximately two buttons and just as many lights.

“Alright, when you’re ready hit the green button! Make sure none of you touch the doorframes.”

Slightly worried at the casual warning all three employees took a large step back. Renee pressed the button and a slight hum took over the garage and office. One of the lights lit up a solid green and the remote chirped a happy tune.

“Ah, tres bon! Now it may not look like it but every doorway and window is now charged with electricity!”

As to prove her point she threw an empty tin can at the garage door. Before it made contact with the wall there was a loud zap and a few sparks. It hit the door and fell to the ground a bit charred. On Renee’s remote the remaining light flared red and an unhappy string of beeps charmed.

“There’s enough power to stop whatever would be combatant in their tracks and it will alert you to anyone breaking the perimeter!”

“Nat this is ama-“ Renee started gazing at the remote in wonder before her loud coworker spoke over her.

“Dang, girl! What made you come up with this brainchild?”

“I actually use similar technology in my apartment back home.”

“Remind me never to knock on your door…” Elliott said a bit deflated.

“Thank you friend! This will do nicely to put our minds at ease while Renee stays here!” Marvin smiled and shook the young engineer’s hand. “Please if there is anything we can do to pay you for this service.”

“Oh no need!” Natalie held up her hands and blushed at the complements. “I happen to have an interest in Renee’s safety as well.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Oui, but you should sleep more. And if this will help you rest better at night then so be it!”

“I sleep just fine.” Renee said defensively and started walking up to her room.

“No you don’t, judging by the way you talk in your sleep.” Natalie shot back and winked up to her, sending Elliott into a fit of laughter. Even Marvin found it difficult to contain the giggles forming in his throat. Renee stomped forward, the tips of her red ears giving her away.

“You my friend, haaah. Got it soooo bad!” He wheezed doubled over and pointing up to her.

“What do you mean Monsieur Witt?”

“I think what he means is that Renee has taken quite a liking to you.”

“I’m with her! You sure are incredi- Incread- awesome, kid!” Elliot stammered and threw his arm around her shoulders. “You think you could look at my truck?”

“I’m not a mechanic, but I can take a look. I will have to _charge_ you though!”

Elliott rolled his eyes and made his way out with Natalie’s help. Just as Marvin was about to lock up the last door he handed something to the girl. It was a large key.

“This is for you, please keep it. Ever since I found her, Renee never let herself get close to anyone so to see her smile for you. You must mean quite a lot to her. It won’t let you get into her room, but know that you are welcome here, friend!”

Natalie nodded and pocketed the key. She eagerly hugged him farewell and went up to Renee’s door. She knocked and waited for a while before hearing the multiple tumblers unlock. Renee leaned against the frame with an obvious frown to her lips. She had changed into similar pajamas as before, though the tank top was a bit tighter and Natalie had to remind herself to look up to her face from time to time as she spoke.

“Yes?”

“May I come in?”

“Depends.”

“Oh what?”

“If you plan on teasing me in front of everyone again.”

Natalie couldn’t help how cute she looked when Renee pouted. She particularly liked the shade of red her ears got and how wide her pale blue eyes became.

“Don’t worry everyone has gone home, plus I wasn’t teasing. Well not just teasing. You do talk in your sleep Cherie. And the stuff you mumbled sounded quite scary.”

“What did I say?!”

“I couldn’t make out much, but it sounded like you were trapped. Trapped again, and afraid you wouldn’t find a way out again.”

Renee nodded. It was a common nightmare of hers and she cursed herself for it coming back up the night Natalie stayed with her. The worst part is that she had slept so heavily that she didn’t even remember it when she woke up in her arms. Natalie had said nothing of it until now so hopefully she wasn’t too restless.

“May I please come in?”

“Uh sure, yeah.”

Renee moved to the side as Natalie trotted in. She noticed the older woman already made space for the remote next to the head of her cot and the weapons she carried where cleaned and hung up on the wall. She sat neatly at the end of the cot as Renee awkwardly paced around the room.

“Are you satisfied with the defenses?”

“Yeah, they’re amazing Nat.” She sighed, relaxing into an easy smile.

“Good! I am quite proud of them! Much better than the model I used before.”

“Got someone hunting you down too?”

“Non, at least not me specifically. During the occupation they proved effective in keeping away drunk soldiers with, lonely hearts, at the very least.” Natalie nearly spat with venom.

“Lonely? Oh… Nat I’m sorry. Did they ever?”

“Non, dieu merci. But there were a few close calls. My company could only protect me so much so I developed security devices like this perimeter and my glove.”

“I see.” Renee said and sat down next to the girl. Her hand traced lines up her back in a soothing motion. Suddenly tired Natalie collapsed onto the smaller woman. She giggled as she pinned the frantic woman under her with her weight.

“Nat! You’re heavy!”

“And you’re rude!” Natalie giggled and adjusted some of her weight to lay more comfortably on the smaller woman. The soothing motions on her back returned and she nuzzled deep in the crook of her neck. Natalie chuckled at the shiver that ran through Renee when her lips made contact with her skin.

“I can make dinner, it’s getting late.”

“Five more minutes, sel tu plait.”

“Hah, you got it.”

As the pair cuddled in the new found safety of a fortified home, outside the crisp fall air was sweeping though the town. As the moon rose a black car drove into the village. It had two seats but only one occupant. The car pulled over to a small hotel and out stepped a man. He was tall and a bit on the thin side. His suit was well kept with a black shirt and dark red vest. Gold cufflinks even accented his sleeves. His blonde hair was shaven into a clean cut and most would assume he was just a handsome young business man. Most didn’t know his car was packed full of weapons. Most never survived.


	9. New Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A low fog had rolled into town, with it brought danger. A danger larger then Renee would have cared to know, but still she has to face it.

October 5th, 1945

The morning had and uneasy air about it. As Renee set off on her route a low fog covered the village. It blows in from the western ocean from time to time, but this particular morning it was thick and the voices were babbling about danger hidden in it. They were so talkative that morning that they convinced her to carry her knife on her morning route. The headlamp on her bike did little to help her navigate the tight roads of the village, but her knowledge of the streets and the voices guided her along her route.

_Stop! In front!_

As she was riding a shadowy figure had stepped into the street in front of her. She quickly braked and fishtailed the bike into a stop mere inches from hitting the man walking across the street. He looked amused that she had managed to avoid hitting him. There was something off about those predatory blue eyes as he gave out a brief chuckle.

“Sorry, ma’am. I’m afraid I didn’t see you in this fog.” He spoke slowly.

“Be more careful, I could have killed you!” She spat and righted her bike.

“That would’ve been a shame, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes… It would’ve. I don’t recognize you. You new in town?”

“Just passing though. Got a bit of a job to do.”

“We don’t get many business men out here.”

“I’m looking for someone actually.” He sneered and lowered his voice. The voices exploded into warnings to flee as he stared her down. “I hope they run, I like when they run…”

Before twisting the throttle of her bike she was ripped from the seat. His strength was impressive as he single handedly threw her onto the cobblestone road. Her back hit the stone so hard it caused her to briefly bounce off of it. Pain spiked in the back of her head as she coughed out spit. Quickly she was pinned to the road as he pressed the heel of his shoe into her chest. He looked down to her as she struggled, unamused.

“You should’ve been more fun than this. You’ve killed so many when you escaped, yet here you are.”

“Don’t underestimate me!” She growled and slipped the knife from its sheath on her leg.

In one quick motion she stabbed the double sided blade into the man’s thigh and rolled out from under him. He grunted in pain as she pulled the knife from his leg. She hopped to her feet in a defensive stance, the knife was flipped in her hand and covered her lower face, ready to strike. The man only gave a haunting laugh seemingly not caring about the wound in his leg. The laugh broke her resolve as she stared down this monster. She couldn’t help the shake of her hands as she heard him speak so casually.

“Ahh that’s more like it, girly! You’ve been marked for death and I intend to deliver, but I want to have a little fun first. Run now, while you still can.” He laughed a deranged laugh and faded back into the fog.

Still on high alert, Renee picked up her bike and rode back to the office as quick as possible. Marvin was there and his usually happy smile quickly faded as Renee informed him of what just happened. With Renee’s history, contacting the local police would only lead to more questions and even more mess. Especially if she was found out to be part of some Nazi experiment. There would be no way to know what would happen to her and her powers. She could be taken away and locked up as a threat to society or even worse.

 _Man fear the unknown_. A voice had once told her while she was bound in her concreate cell. _And their first instinct is to lash out and control it. If they can’t control it, they will dispose of it._

They were on their own for this and Marvin seemed to understand that. He helped Renee start to lock down the building and had sent Elliott to pick up Natalie while finishing up Renee’s route. Renee was pacing around her room, a nervous habit she had as long as she could remember. Growing frustrated she smashed an empty soda bottle against the wall and slumped onto her cot.

“I should have killed him while I had the chance!”

_You were afraid._

“How could I not be?! His laugh… It wasn’t human.”

_It was as human as we are._

“No. I’ll never be like that monster! I refuse to be.”

_You can’t refuse what they have done to you._

“Argh, where the fuck is Elliott?!”

As she spoke she felt the familiar vibrations of the garage door opening below her. She jumped to her feet and grabbed the little remote by her cot before running down stairs. Natalie was already jumping out of the passenger seat when Renee made it down. The girl looked worried, she nearly tackled Renee when she saw her. She clung a bit too tightly and Renee winced in pain.

“As desole, Cherie! Elliott filled me in. You’re not hurt are you?” She said with tears in the corners of her eyes.

“Nothing too bad. Just some bruising.”

Natalie sighed in relief and pulled her into a kiss. Renee squeaked in surprise as she saw her coworkers staring at her. Elliott made a gagging motion while Marvin gave an enthusiastic thumbs up. Seemingly Natalie didn’t care nor notice the other men in the room as she clung to the lapels of Renee’s jacket. Embarrassed, Renee kissed back just enough to end it quickly. She pushed the younger girl away gently and just enough to see her face.

“What about your father? Will he be alright?” She said quietly still holding her shoulders.

“Oui, Papa’s no push over, plus I hope you have a plan to end this quickly?”

“The best way to do it is to take the fight to him. Fight on our terms.”

“Then we will lay a trap then!” Natalie said excitedly.

“Oh you know I’m totally down for a little bamboozling!” Elliott chimed in.

“That is true! Elliott has pulled many tricks on Renee and I over the past year!”

“Yeah! My favorite was when I was able to convince Renee to hold a bucket of water to the ceiling with a broom saying it was a magic trick. Oh you should’ve seen the look on her face as I walked away!”

“It was a magic trick I didn’t kill you that day…”

“Right, so uh. What’s the plan?”

For the remainder of the day the four of them worked out a plan to trap the would-be assassin. For Natalie’s safety she would stay with Renee that night, while the others took shelter in their own homes. Natalie was busy going over the morning’s plans at her table. Renee watched her over her shoulder as she did dishes. She enjoyed the little furrow to her brow as she thought hard. The younger girl went to scratch her head only to frown and remove the white glove. In the bright light of her room, Renee could make out more detail of the scaring.

It was excessive, even to her standards. Parts of her fingers were oddly dented due to the burn pattern. The worst part was her palm. She only caught a glimpse of it but the skin color was permanently changed and a large squishy section of where her fingers connect was just missing. They were long healed over, but it still pained her to know she went through so much. Not realizing it, she had unconsciously moved over to the girl. Her hand rose up to trace the lines on the young girl’s cheek causing her to jolt at the sudden touch. She relaxed and let her love trace the patterns however she wanted. The question went unspoken as Renee crouched next to her. Natalie sighed knowing this subject would come up eventually.

“It was a long time ago, and an accident. I was twelve at the time. Papa was showing me around the power facility he worked at since I was so excited to learn about electricity. I was stupid to think I could help fix one of the coils. I didn’t even realize the capacitors hadn’t fully discharged yet.”

“And you still wanted to work with electricity after that?”

“Oui, mistakes though dangerous can be learned from and you can always try again. With people on the other hand, mistakes aren’t always forgiven, no?” She giggled.

“You haven’t made one yet.” Renee smiled and brought the scared knuckles to her lips in a small kiss.

“You flatter me.” She huffed and lightly tugged her hand away. She brought her hand close to her chest in a fist as to hide the damage. “I only wish it not so ugly.”

“It’s not.” Renee said and lightly wrapped her hands around hers. Slowly she pulled it back down and examined it. She took her time looking over the patchy skin and dented flesh. She gently flipped it around with the same care she used to hold the Nessie.

“It’s warm, and I’ve seen these hands do some amazing things. This is a part of you, and I think you’re beautiful so this must be as well.”

“Logic and flattery? I am very lucky indeed.” She cooed and brought her hand up to run fingers along pale skin.

“I’m the lucky one.” She mumbled and turned to kiss the scared palm.

“You, Renee Blasey are a, _terrible_ , flirt.”

“Like I said…” She smirked as she rose up to sit on the younger girl’s lap. Her hands threaded themselves around thin shoulders and through blonde hair. She shivered as she felt curious fingers dance along her hips in return. She nervously ground the toe of her boot into the floor as she continued in a voice just above a whisper. “Natural talent.”

“Let us test that talent, shall we?” Natalie cooed and reached over to flick off the light.

Their lips clashed together once more. It wasn’t as clumsy as their first but held just as much passion. They reconnected over and over again, barely pausing for breath. Short nails skimmed halfway up her back causing Renee to arch towards her. The sensation sparked something long forgotten in the older woman. Her hips rolled forward as she gasped out. The shit eating smirk was plain to see on the engineers face as she once again scratched further up her spine. Heat was pooling between her legs and her shirt was suddenly too tight, to constricting. She nearly ripped the article off and when she stared back down to her something in her gaze made Natalie gulp hard.

Seemingly stunned she took advantage and started to pepper kisses along freckled skin. She started at her jaw and dragged them down the major artery in her neck only to settle at the point she could feel her pulse reverberate along her lips. She started to gently suck there and a wonderful sound filled the room.

“Reneeee…” Natalie groaned and dragged her nails deeper into pale skin.

They didn’t just scratch as they drifted up her spine once more. They were on a mission. One hand stopped at the clasp of her bra while the other continued up to work her hair out of a bun. Moans were tumbling from the engineer’s mouth along with several curse words as Renee started teething along her shoulder and collar bone. Her bra fell away moments later along with her hair coming down to decorate bare shoulders.

Natalie pushed her away a few inches to see, but embarrassment started to get to Renee as she crossed an arm around her chest. She looked so vulnerable. The only light came in from the window and the moon outside. The soft blue light reflected off of pale skin and Natalie swallowed hard at the firm abs that peak out below her breasts. She brushed dark hair out of her eyes and rubbed slow circles on her lower back.

“Cherie, if this is too much we don’t have to.”

“It’s just that this body, my body, I’ve never, at least I can’t remember if I ever…” She said in exasperation. “Nat, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing!”

“We can figure it out together.”

“No! It’s not that! When I’m with you I’m happy and my heart starts beating fast. I’ve never, I don’t remember if I, I can’t remember.” She groaned and clutched her head. Natalie held her tight as Renee started to shake then settle once more.

“You’re going through so much right now, ma amour. So many new feelings in such a short period of time. Let us just enjoy the moments we have now. We’ll go at your pace, take things one step at a time, Oui?”

“Amour? What does that mean? I’ve heard it once before but I forgot to ask.” Renee mumbled into her neck.

“Oh, it uh means, love.” Natalie squeaked out while turning red.

“Ma- amour, my- lo… Nat did you just say you-“

“Like I said let’s take this one step at a time.” Natalie stuttered quickly.

“She says, as I’m half naked in your lap.” Renee smirked up playfully. Somehow the girl fell into an even deeper blush.

“That’s not fair! How are you not embarrassed anymore?!”

“I am, it’s just teasing you is winning out right now.”

“What a dirty tactic.”

“You make it too easy.” Renee chuckled. Natalie huffed and crossed her arms, looking away.

“Fine! If that is how it is going to be, no more kisses for you!”

There was an audible whine from the older woman as she playfully fought the girl below her for another kiss. Natalie was weak to her pout though and soon their lips were back together in searing heat. Both could feel the other smile into the kiss and Renee hummed in appreciation. Renee was busy peppering kisses all over the young woman’s face as a voice buzzed into her head making her stop in her tracks.

_Sniper! Get down!_


	10. The Devil at the Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feeling safe with their new defenses, a playful evening soon turned troubled with an urgent warning. Renee and Natalie now must protect themselves before he could try and take any more lives that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the late upload. Life's been hectic lately (new job and such). My uploads will be more around this time in the future, same goes for Thursday as well. I'm so thankful for all of the support of this work, I love you guys :D Small warning of more action/violence/blood for this chapter and with further ado, Chapter 10

The shot buzzed over her shoulder blade as she toppled the chair to the ground. The window into her room shattered as she protected Natalie from the glass. Renee lifted her head just enough to peak out the window and spotted the muzzle flash a few blocks away. Luckily she ducked down in time for the bullet to only take out a few black hairs. A few boxes of supplies exploded open when the bullet landed behind them.

“Marde! What is happening!?”

“It the guy Nat! He has a bead on my room, keep your head down!”

Renee quickly threw her shirt back over her head and scrambled on the floor to grab her guns and the remote. She holstered the pistol and readied the MAS after tossing Natalie the remote. Natalie reattached her glove after nearly getting her hand shot off reaching for it. Slinking along the wall they slipped out of her room. Crawling below the windows they made their way to the more secure offices on the other end of the building. The mail room luckily had no windows and only two doors. Renee began to pace while checking for anything to barricade the doors.

“That sounded like a Kar98k, I’m surprised he managed to miss his first shot.” Natalie pondered confused.

“How do you even know that?”

“The thing I hate most is the sound of guns, too loud. At night I was forced to learn the different sounds of each one as my home was only a few blocks from the train station…”

Renee’s brow scrunched up, confused at the words train station. Slightly annoyed Natalie quickly explained. “Those who didn’t want to go to the work camps were often shot on sight.”

Natalie’s face darkened significantly. Renee wanted to pause and apologies for bringing up bad memories but they were interrupted by a red light going off on the remote and an unhappy chirp. Wide eyed they both stared at each other.

“He just crossed my fence.” Natalie whispered in shock.

“Stay here, barricade the doors with whatever you can.”

“Wait! What are you planning?!”

“Nat, I need to take this guy down. Now or never.”

“You’ll die!”

“Nah.” Renee smiled shyly and clicked off the safety of the MAS. “As much as I don’t want to, I _was_ built for this, plus…” She winked.

“I got someone who I need to come back to.”

She had the advantage. This was her home turf. She knew every hiding place, every blind corner, easily traversed in near darkness. It didn’t take long to locate him from the shadows. He wondered the garage below her. She grew anxious in the fact he seemed so calm. From what she could tell he was armed with a large rifle on his back and a StG 44 in his hands. She readied the gun in her shoulder, but as she aimed a feeling of horrible dread came over her. She could practically smell the blood come off of him, blood and cheap cologne. She aimed and fired a short burst. The muzzle flash blinding her a moment as the bullets sparked along the concrete. When her eyes adjusted he was nowhere to be found.

“Ever get the feeling you’re not alone in a room? You’re not.” The low voice echoed with a laugh around the garage.

Her eyes darted everywhere as she snuck away. The echo of the room made it impossible to tell direction of the voice. Her breathing slowly became more panicked as she leaned against Elliott’s truck.

“Not bad girly, you’re good at playing cat and mouse.”

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted movement along some cabinets. The voices guided her to dodge as a spray of bullets whizzed by her ear. One of them skimmed across her cheek, cutting a thin line. She slipped into the void and hid herself against a wooden crate.

“Quit stalling and come out, I already paid a visit to your father-in-law. Did you know he’s looking paler these days? I wanted the girl, she would have made the most beautiful screams.”

As his footsteps came close she rolled out from cover. Her shots went wide as she panicked in a fit of rage at his words. A short burst clipped at her heels and skimmed through her arm as she rounded near her bike. Pain and adrenaline filled her body again. Shaking, she could feel the icy touch of the void surround her.

_Stay calm._

“Oh angry are we? So you _do_ like that little girl? I’d like her too, if she was in a few more pieces at least. Don’t worry when I’m done with you, I’ll pay her a little visit.”

 _He’s baiting you_.

Slow footsteps slowly traversed the garage as he searched for his prey. Calming herself Renee found she could easily make out his stride and the distinct sound of hard rubber soles on concreate.

_Wait and listen._

It was quiet in the garage. The only light was the dim shadow given off of the moon that managed to peek through the windows. No sound came until she heard the skim of fabric on the hood of Elliott's truck.

_To your left._

With a deep breath she settled the storm of anger brewing within her and looked to where the voice was guiding her. The man was rounding the truck were she once was. Another short burst from her MAS was enough to clip his shoulder. He grunted in pain before diving behind cover. She turned to run, but the man was upon her quickly. A stray shot entered her calf causing her to trip. Her gun skidded across the concreate. She scrambled to grab it but was stopped as a heavy shoe stomped on her back. She felt herself be lifted up by the throat. Her airway was immediately cut off as she flailed her legs below her and gripped onto his hand with both of hers.

“It was fun while it lasted, too bad it’s over now. At least this part never gets old.”

“No!” She coughed out and drew the Luger from its holster. The man made a move to block but it was too slow with the wound in his shoulder. She fired two into his stomach and she dropped back to the ground gasping for air. She kicked his limp arm away with her good leg and started to make her way back to the offices.

“Natalie!” She called painfully through the door. There was a rustling inside and the door was thrown open. Natalie was there and visibly shaken, but unharmed. She ushered the woman inside and began to put pressure on the wound in her leg.

“Is he gone? Are we safe?”

“Yeah, yeah he’s dead. It was close though.” Renee breathed heavily.

“You’re lucky, Cherie. The bullet missed the bone.” Natalie said as she wrapped a rag tightly around the muscle.

There was a banging from the front door that spooked both of them. Natalie let Renee take over putting pressure on the wound and cautiously approached the front entrance. Renee protested her going without her to no avail. Luckily the familiar voice of Marvin settled their nerves.

“Please let me in friends! I thought I heard gun fire!”

Natalie deactivated the perimeter and quickly unlocked the door. The man looked worried and for once a bit frazzled in appearance. His light hair stuck up every which way and at odd angles. Besides him pushed Elliott who raced to Renee’s side. Natalie quickly pulled Marvin inside and relocked the door. It was chaos as they explained what happened to the boys in between grunts of pain coming from Renee. Marvin grabbed a first aid kit from near his desk and started stitching the leg wound closed.

“Elliott, take Nat and check up on her father.” Renee breathed heavily from her spot on the counter. “Something the bastard said has me worried.”

“I will.”

Before he could leave her side she handed him her MAS along with an extra magazine with a prevalent shake to her hands. “Take this, I know you served once. Keep her safe.” She said with sweat forming on her brows and shoulders. The pain was growing in intensity as the adrenaline was wearing off.

“I can’t leave you like this Cherie! You’re hurt!”

“I’ll live, your father may be in danger.”

Reluctantly Nat let go of the woman and followed Elliot to his truck. The blood splatter on the hood was a grim reminder of the danger she had protected her from. As Elliott fired up the engine she couldn’t help but notice the large dark red pool nearby starting to filter down the drain. She didn’t want to think whose blood was it but it twisted something in her stomach that made her feel nauseous. She sat back in the leather seat as they drove off, trying to control her breathing.

“She’s going to be fine, Natalie.”

The girl nodded and tried to change the subject to distract from the knots forming in her stomach. “She said you served in the military.”

“Yeah.” He said with a small smile coming to his lips. “Not much more than a glorified navy bus boy though.”

“You were in the navy?”

“Yup! Open seas and beautiful woman! It definitely had its perks.”

“Oh, and did these beautiful woman take a liking to a glorified navy bus boy?”

“Hey! I can cook some mean pork chops! And my mom said the best way to a woman’s heart was through her stomach!”

“I thought the saying was that, that was a way to a man’s heart, Non?”

“It’s to anyone’s heart! Who doesn’t love food?!” Elliott laughed and took joy in pulling a giggle from the girl next to him.

“You must teach me then, one of these days.”

Elliott nodded and together they pulled up to the small house. The moment of happiness was quickly ruined by how the front door was left ajar. Natalie rushed out of the truck even before it had come to a complete stop. Elliott was right on her heels with the gun ready in his arms. As they entered the small home the air was immediately off. The taste of wet iron clung to her teeth as she took in the ransacked living room. Franticly she searched the house with Elliott. As she went down to her father’s workshop a horrible sight greeted her. Blood smeared the walls and slumped next to a large tool chest was her father.

Natalie dropped to her knees next to him as Elliot guarded the entrance. She pulled away the bloody remnants of his shirt to see multiple bullet wounds in his stomach. On his chest was two odd looking bandages with wires going between them. Gripping his wrist gave her the smallest relief as his pulse, though very weak, was still there.

“Papa!” She shouted and dragged him to lay down on the floor.

She quickly bandaged the wounds as best she could but her heart sank as his shallow breathing stopped. Panicked she looked back at the contraption stuck to his chest. It was one of his prototypes. He theorized that he could get the heart running again with a pulse of electricity. She moved the wires and felt a small zap to her finger. It hurt as much as a static shock. In a flash a brilliance she removed the pathetic power source and grabbed the wires with her gloved hand. She paused ready to flip the switch on her belt.

“Papa please don’t die, I don’t know what I would do without you!” She prayed and flicked the switch on for a moment before turning it off.

His entire body jolted stiff. But to her relief his eyes shot open and he gasped for air. His hand clutched at his wounds as he panted heavily. He looked to her in amazement and slowly set his other hand on her scared cheek as to make sure she was real.

“Oh ma Ange, please do not tell me I am in heaven. Please do not tell me we have both be sent here tonight.”

“Non Papa, we are home. I thought, I’d lost you for a moment.” She hiccupped between tears.

“My heart, it had stopped, hadn’t it?” He said in disbelief.

“Oui Papa. But you were right! Electricity can jump start a heart!”

“That’s good, though I never thought it would be I to test that out.” He smiled as Natalie wrapped her arms around the man. She nuzzled deeper into his beard as she chided him.

“You output was all wrong though, you need one large jolt not constant small ones.”

His hand went to pet through her blonde hair as he held her close to him. “I knew you would figure it out, ma petite fille intelligente…”

-

Back at the post office Renee was doing better. She slowly got up off the table once Marvin had finished wrapping her calf and patched her arm. The scratch under her eye was luckily small enough to just tape over. She had a limp but it was manageable especially with Marvin’s shoulder to lean on. He helped her sit down into a comfier desk chair.

“Now we need to figure out what to do with his body.” She sighed.

“Body?”

“Yeah the bastard should still be laying in the garage.”

“Um Renee…” Marvin said quietly and stippled his fingers together. “There is no body.”

“What!?”

“I went to get more gauze from the cabinet for you and this was the only thing I found other than the blood.”

The man handed her a small piece of jewelry. A singular gold cufflink was in the shape of a circle with many indentations along the ring. It would be beautiful if not splattered with red.


	11. Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life had settled down for the moment, at least when it comes to assassins. Renee finds herself seething at a expensive perfume soaked letter addressed to her girlfriend. Natalie finds this adorable.

October 13th, 1945

The following days were a blur. Gossip and rumors spread like a plague around town. Renee was always armed when she went on her routes. Natalie had barely left her father’s side as he slowly stabilized. The local police weren’t informed due to Renee’s request, stating concern about her technically being part of a Third Reich war project. They had gone over a week since the incident without any sign of the assassin but deep down Renee knew he would be back to finish the job. She tried not to focus on that as she rode to Luc’s house.

She had a letter for Natalie and by the looks it was extremely important with how express delivery it was. The woman hopped off her bike at the gate and fished the letter out of her bag. It was a small red envelope with a fancy embossed stamp of a wolf howling in the night. The letter smelled sweetly of perfume and Renee couldn’t help the pang of jealousy that shot through her as she walked up the garden path.

_It’s a woman’s perfume. Another woman’s perfume…_

“She said she was terrible with woman, though.” Renee grunted to herself.

_You fell for her didn’t you?_

Anger slowly built inside her for whoever had sent her this no doubt, expensive letter. All sorts of bitter thoughts about this stranger filled her mind. Her face formed a tight frown by the time she knocked on her door. There was a pause as she heard familiar electrical humming die down and multiple latches unlock. Natalie opened the door with a pleasant smile. She was in an orange blouse that paired with a blue skirt. Renee noted the blue matched the vibrancy of her eyes.

“Salut, Cherie! Why the scary face? Did something happen?”

“No, everything’s fine. You got a letter with express delivery.”

Renee held out the red envelope a bit forcefully. Natalie cocked an eyebrow but said nothing of it as she took the letter. A smile graced her lips as she tore into it and let the red paper fall to the ground. She desperately read the letter and whatever it said made her smile grow. Anger at the stranger crept up into Renee once more.

“Who’s it from?” She almost snapped at her.

“Oh just an acquaintance of mine. Tres bon! She said she’ll be in Paris all weekend!”

“She?” Renee seethed through her teeth as she stepped inside.

“Oui.” Natalie said still examining the letter. “Mademoiselle Andrade, She is an investor in our company and has a particular eye for jewelry. I remember seeing many different kinds at her estate in Paris.”

“Her estate?” The bitterness in her voice was clear at this point and caused Natalie to pause and look at her.

“Yes, her home. What are you trying to say? Renee, are you jealous perhaps?” Natalie said lowly with a smirk hinting at the corner of her mouth.

“It’s just not every day some woman sends you a letter soaked in her perfume.”

Natalie smiled mischievously as she set the letter on the table and upon returning shifted her arms around the woman’s muscular shoulders. She pulled them close so their bodies fit together seamlessly. Callused hands fell to her hips and Renee’s hard expression softened at the touch.

“I never expected you to be the possessive type, Cherie. Though she is just as terrible a flirt, she never takes anyone she dates seriously. I was never interested in a relationship without any sort of commitment so we never went out. You in fact… were my first kiss, Renee.”

“I could tell.” She smirked.

“That’s just rude!” Natalie giggled and reached up to smooth a few stray black hairs back under the woman’s cap.

“So what did Miss. Andrade want?”

“Actually it was I who reached out to her. I had sent a telegram after the events of last week regarding the cufflink you found. She knows so much about jewelry I needed to know if she’ll be in town anytime soon.”

“Sounds like it, from what you said. Did she say anything else?”

“Oh nothing other than the fact she’s still wanting to bed me since I had rejected her.” Natalie teased and squeaked when the hands on her hips squeezed tighter. She got more then she bargained for as Renee nearly growled into her.

“Like hell she will if I have anything to say for it.”

“Are you saying you’d want to instead?” Natalie whispered shyly.

Renee’s mouth went dry at the question. She was still new to all of this and the situation she was hinting at was so far beyond the scope of what she knows. Instinct and hormones told her yes so many times. Even on the floor right now just to alleviate the ache in her core. The gentle touch of another was so intoxicating to her she wanted to drown in it. The rational and less selfish side of her mind won out as she relaxed her hold on the girl.

“Only if we’re both ready for that. One step at a time.” She smiled with a nod.

“Alright, just let me know, Cherie.” Natalie smiled and pecked her nose with a little kiss.

“So, what’s the plan now?”

“Ahh that’s right! How would you feel taking a little trip to the city with me?”

“With you? What about your father?”

“Papa’s doing much better now! The doctor still wants him to take it easy for a while, but he’ll pull though. Thank god you had told me to check up on him when you did.”

“You’re alright with leaving him by himself?”

“Oui!” Natalie hummed and gestured to the wires that now outlined the windows and doors. “I upped the amperage, there enough power to drop a fully grown horse now.”

“Plus it shouldn’t take more than a day or so.” She added with a sigh.

“Okay, but why me? You’re only going to be speaking to your acquaintance right?”

“Oui, but I thought we could do all those things we were talking about the other day! I could take you on a proper date!”

“Date?!”

“Mmhm! Dinner, maybe a movie or even some dancing!”

“Only if you promise not to step on my feet.”

“I make no promises, even in jest.”

“So when did you want to go?”

“Why not now? We could even borrow Elliott’s truck since I helped replace the battery a few days ago and he still owes me.”

“Now? That’s sudden.”

“Maybe, but Mademoiselle Andrade is a very busy woman and she said she’ll only be in the city for the rest of the weekend, and you have tomorrow off, no?”

“You do have a point. Grab what you’ll need and I’ll take you back to the office with me.”

Natalie smiled and hugged the woman with a squeal. She raced off deeper into the home to gather her things. Renee started to pace the humble home. It was definitely more put together then her apartment. Photos of a young Natalie and her father hung around the walls. She wandered into the living room and found a particularly cute picture of her girl standing proudly in front of a large industrial building with a dozen other people on the mantel.

_Behind you._

Renee quickly twisted with the warning and her hand flew to the gun hidden in the liner of her trousers. When she saw who approached her she relaxed. Luc was leaning on the door frame leading out of the living room. The shock in his eyebrows at the woman’s reaction slowly eased into a sheepish smile.

“Ah sorry, I did not mean to scare you. I heard my daughter rushing around in her room so I came out to investigate, usually I find something on fire.” He added with a slightly pained chuckle.

“No fire, she has some business in Paris for the weekend.”

“Oh I see, will you be joining her for this _business_?” He said and slowly walked to stand beside her. Together they looked at the pictures that decorated the hearth.

“I will be… for her safety of course.”

“Of course.” He smiled and pointed to the industrial picture. “This was taken when her company got promoted to handle 80% of the city’s power. She sounded so happy in her letter, she talked about every little detail she had managed to figure out. The letter was more of a book by the end of it.”

“That so? She really is an amazing woman.”

“She also talks about you quite often, you know? She says things like, Papa, I’ve met the most interesting person today, and Renee is very kind once you get to know her. And often, when I’ve found her asleep at her desk lately, it’s your name she mumbles when I move her back to her bed.”

“Sir, I promise I haven’t…” Renee blushed at the new information, but was caught off guard at the soft look he had on his face.

“It’s not my decision on what my little girl dose with her life, as long as she’s happy. Renee, I don’t know you personally very well that’s true, but for the time I have known you I can see you are a hard worker and have struggled so much in life to get to this point. Regardless of who you might have been in the past, from what I’ve seen, I think my daughter couldn’t have picked anyone better.”

“Thank you sir, your words are very kind. I just hope to live up to them.”

“You better.” He winked. “Paquette’s are not push overs, which includes my daughter. If you break her heart, it is not I you should worry about.”

“Understood.” She smiled shyly. “I think I love her too much for that to happen, Sir.”

“You should tell her that then. Have a safe trip.” He said and swung an arm around her in a brief hug. She was still stiff to the sudden affection and only managed a small pat to his back in return.

He shuffled to his daughter’s room to say goodbye and Renee stood ready by the front door. They were speaking quite loudly, but mostly in French so Renee struggled to grasp the full conversation. It ended with Natalie coming out in a huff with her suitcase and Luc chuckling after her. She couldn’t help but notice the blush on the young woman’s face as she stomped towards her.

“I swear Papa! C’est pourquoi Je ne ramene pas filles a la maison!”

“I was only having a conversation with her. Right, Renee?”

“Uh yes sir.”

“Ugh, I’ll see you late tomorrow, Papa. Please do what the doctor ordered and get some rest.”

“I will, ma Ange. Stay safe, both of you.”

Renee nodded as she led Natalie out of the house. Together they rode back to the village. Luckily Renee had only a stop or two on the way.

“Did Papa say anything weird to you?” Natalie mumbled into her shoulder as Renee finished a delivery.

“Not particularly, He just loves you that’s all.”

“Maybe a bit too much, he didn’t scare you did he?”

“Nat, he warned me to be more afraid of you.” Renee chuckled as she felt the woman pout into her shoulder.

“Qu’est-ce que Je vais faire de lui?” She sighed.

It was still early afternoon by the time they made it back to the office. Natalie left to track down Elliott. Renee alerted Marvin of her trip and went upstairs to gather a few things. As she was stuffing a spare set of clothing into a knapsack she caught her reflection in the mirror. All of her clothing was utilitarian in design. Most of it was hand-me-downs from the locals and none of it would be considered fashionable. Especially for a date. The thought brought heat to her cheeks as she started to franticly find something nice to wear. 

_The loud one is approaching._

Renee groaned and shoved the remaining articles of clothing back to the side. She quickly unlatched the door in annoyance. There standing was Elliott with a fist hanging midair and a large package under his arm.

“I still don’t get how you do that. I didn’t even knock yet.”

“Woman’s intuition. What do you want?”

“Yikes, someone’s all snappy even though _I_ had come to rescue them.”

“Rescue?”

Elliott nodded and slipped his way inside the room. He brought out the large box from under his arm and handed it to the woman. The box was black and nicely made with a small gold outlined logo in the center of it.

“You’re going on a date, so you might as well look the part!” He smiled.

“It’s not a date, it’s a business meeting.”

“Oh _sure_ it is. Then you might as look nice for that too. I thought something like this might happen soon so I got you this.”

Renee rolled her eyes and opened the box on her cot. Underneath the tissue paper was a well-tailored outfit consisting of a matching black tweed skirt and jacket, and a collared white blouse. Near the bottom of the box lay a pair of shiny heeled black shoes. The fabric was soft and even smelled amazing. As she lifted the shoes her mouth hung open at an odd angle.

“Elliott… I can’t accept this. How would I even thank you?” She almost whispered in disbelief.

“Just put it on, I wanna be the first to see it!”

Renee nodded gathering up the box and dashing into the bathroom. It took her a moment to figure out how the garments should be arranged and tie her shoes. The extra two or so inches of height was something she’d need to get used to, but the rest fit well. Somehow Elliot managed to figure out her size and got it fitted for her. With a deep breath she undid her bun and ran her fingers through some of the waves it made. It would have to do for now as she didn’t have curling iron like most of the other woman in town. She glanced at the pile of discarded clothing. She dragged out the well-worn scarf from the mass. She threw it loosely over her shoulders and steeled herself in the safety it provided. She stepped out a few minutes later. Her legs felt exposed in the skirt but the militaristic styling of the jacket brought her comfort. It also hid her tattoo which she appreciated a great deal.

“Wow Renee, you look stunning! Natalie will probably faint when she sees you, I guarantee it!” Elliott squealed with delight.

“How did you know my size? I’m impressed.”

“Men’s intuition, come on your date is waiting.” Elliot smirked and held out his arm as he slung her pack over his shoulder.

“What a gentleman…” Renee smiled and rolled her eyes as she took up his arm. It was probably for the better as he helped steady her as she grew accustomed to the heels.

Before they left her room Renee was able to strap the Lugar to be concealed under her jacket. Elliott did a once over to make sure nothing stood out before guiding her downstairs. When she entered the garage Elliott left her to put away her things in the truck. She spotted Natalie putting the finishing touches of her make up on in the side mirror of the truck. The wing to her eye brought out even more of that beautiful vibrant blue and the deep red lipstick churned something in Renee’s stomach. She wanted, no, _needed_ to smudge it with a kiss. It was too beautiful not to. Natalie lifted up and her eyes went wide with a smile as she saw Renee.

“Renee! Tu es magnifique!” She happily cheered and raced to envelope the woman in a hug. Renee returned it as best she could, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from those soft red lips.

“You look beautiful, Nat.”

“Thank you, Cherie. Though…” Natalie giggled mischievously and tapped the woman’s chin with an index finger. “My eyes are up here.”

Renee broke out into blush as she was caught staring. Her eyes immediately shot up. She muttered a few incoherent excuses and Natalie shushed her with a whisper. “I believe I found a weakness of yours.”

“Seems like it.”

“Then we will have to experiment with that at a later time. We’d best be going, it’s starting to get late.” Natalie cooed and hopped up into the driver’s seat.

“Wait, you know how to drive?”

“Oui! Papa taught me!”


	12. A Wolf's Hunger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They had made it to Paris, but before they could go on a proper date they have business to attend to. Enemies lay around every corner, even where you don't expect it, and the wolf is always hungry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for all of the love you guys have for this story! I've been busy lately with a new job so my schedule may be changing in the near future, but I'll try to continue as best as I can. Love you guys, stay safe. <3

The drive was nice. Renee always felt fidgety in cars due to their tight spaces, but Natalie kept the conversation going to distract her. Though it was the weekend the traffic was low and Renee preoccupied herself by watching out the window. Slowly the city grew in the distance. She could see the buildings they past get taller and closer together. There was less and less grass and more and more people. It was the vast amount of people that made the hairs stick up on the back of her neck. They pasted by several landmarks, all of which Natalie happily bounced in her seat explaining the meaning of. They were just passing a large archway as Renee spotted a group of motorbikes racing alongside them.

She sat up in her seat as she watched them pass. Their bikes were shiny and sped along swiftly even though there was so many of them. They seemed happy as they weaved around each other. In fact as she looked to the crowds she notice many shared the rider’s enthusiasm. She even saw a man greet a woman on the corner with flowers. Renee couldn’t help but smile with them as they embraced.

“I see what you mean.”

“Hmm? About what, Cherie?”

“You mentioned your city being romantic.”

“Oui, it most certainly is!” Natalie smiled and winked at her. “The French are lovers after all, and we will fight just about anyone to prove that.”

Renee smiled and reached over to take Natalie’s free hand into her own for a moment to place a kiss on the knuckles. Natalie blushed at the motion and playfully shooed the woman back to her side of the truck. They drove together for a bit in silence until Natalie pulled into a small parking area next to a row of tall thin peaked buildings. They were so closely packed that no alleyways went between them. The bottom floors seemed to be various shops and the rest of the floors seemed to be dedicated apartments. Natalie quickly hopped out of the truck and grabbed her suitcase. Renee followed suit as the younger woman lead her to a building in the middle of the row. They were a bit older but well kept. Renee even noticed the first shop they past had the same box of cookies they shared when they first met in the shop window.

As Renee’s stomach growled at those cookies Natalie skipped on without her. She caught up as the woman was twisting a key into a heavy lock. Together they ascended narrow steps up to the fourth floor.

“Ah pardon, I didn’t think about how messy it may be.” Natalie sighed as she dug another key out of her pocket along with a familiar remote.

“It’s fine, you’ve seen how bad my place can get.” Renee said as they stopped at a lone door at the top of the stairs.

“True, you really need to fold your clothes more often.” She giggled and stepped inside.

Renee rolled her eyes as she took in the apartment. It was nice, even luxurious compared to the glorified closet she’s been living in the past year. The walls were nicely painted and her heels clicked off the hardwood floors. Furniture was scares but pictures decorated the walls. Even more of the stuffed little green creatures hid in the crevasses of shelves and bookcases. There were so many it was almost like Natalie had placed them for guests to find. On the dining room table not an inch of space was free as it was covered in papers and blueprints of electrical work. Renee was curiously thumbing through the prints as Natalie called from what appeared to be a small kitchen.

“Sorry Renee, but please do not touch those. I had borrowed them from work before I left. You can set your stuff down in my room. I just need to make a few calls.”

“Alright, will do.” Renee called over her shoulder and made her way towards the back of the building.

She noticed the large record player in the living room as well as the vast collection of records next to it. The furniture was shifted at odd angles to make an empty space in front of a small fire place. It was when she found the door at the end of the short hall that she hesitated. Vaguely she could hear Natalie speaking French into the phone over her shoulder.

_What are you waiting for?_

_She said it would be fine._

“But, it’s her room.” Renee whispered.

_Did you intend to come all this way to sleep on her couch?_

Renee groaned at the voice and twisted open the handle. Inside the room was a large neatly made bed and a heavy looking work desk. The desk seemed to contain more personal projects. Odds and ends Renee couldn’t even begin to put together. But what swept her attention by far the most was the large window covered with light curtains. As she shifted the curtains her mouth hung open. There on the other side of the window lay a picturesque view of a park and a tall pointed tower that caught the setting light perfectly. She stood there a moment, enjoying the view as a voice warned her of Natalie’s approach. Thin arms wrapped around her stomach and her chin relaxed onto her shoulder.

“C’est beau, non?”

“Yeah, I see why you never left.”

“Oui, well that and my work, they’d be helpless without moi!”

“Of course. How was your phone call?”

“Ah good, we’re meeting Mademoiselle Andrade at a nearby restaurant for a few drinks before dinner.” Natalie hummed and suddenly realizing something, jumped back. “Sorry! I should’ve asked if you would be okay for that.”

“I wouldn’t see why not.”

“Elliott mentioned he never could get you to go out with him for drinks, so I thought you’d be against alcohol.”

“Not much as with alcohol as with Elliott himself.” Renee chuckled. “But if such a cute girl asked me, I don’t think I’d be able to refuse.”

“Oh no what should I do?” Natalie sighed dramatically with a bit of blush gracing her cheeks. “The only cute girl I know is standing here with me!”

“Subtle… Maybe you could bribe that girl?” Renee said lowly and stepped a foot closer. The heels gave her just enough new height to look down on the woman. She revealed in the new found power as her sharp gaze made Natalie fidget with her blue skirt.

“And how would you suppose I do that? It must be something the girl wants, non?” She smiled and tilted her chin up, inches away.

Just as Renee opened her mouth to speak a loud grumble came from her stomach. Natalie burst out laughing at the ruined mood. She grabbed the embarrassed woman’s hand and started to lead her back downstairs.

“I think some food might just to the trick actually!” She laughed and Renee couldn’t still help the fact that though the atmosphere took a turn for the silly, the burning desire to take this girl still lingered deep within her as she followed her out.

-

Natalie wasn’t lying. The restaurant was the fanciest place she’s ever been. Marble floors and gold trimmed columns, even the carpets were red velvet. It didn’t really fit with her outlook of the engineer’s tastes though. In fact several time the voices warned her of her partner’s nerves as they entered the large building.

The young girl kept her head on swivel as they entered the lobby. There was many conversations between the guests and the voices overlapped into a wall of noise. She rushed both of them through the crowd and made a beeline to the host. She spoke to him quickly in French and Renee noticed her hand reach up to cover her ear when a particularly loud guest burst out in laughter nearby. Reflexively Renee reached out a comforting hand to the woman’s shoulder.

_Bad move…_

Mid-sentence Natalie rolled her shoulder and swatted the hand away. Her teeth gritted as she continued to talk to the man. Taken slightly aback Renee folded her arms into herself and kept a protective eye out on the crowd. The host flagged over an attendant that led them deeper into the restaurant. Renee made sure to keep a bit of distance from the girl as they walked. The attendant guided them to sit at a round corner booth in the far back of the building, away from prying eyes. She saw Natalie slowly relax now that they were in a quieter place. The attendant smiled as he poured water into glasses that waited on the table.

“Quelque chose a boire ce soir? Er… Drinks Mademoiselles?” He added seeing the puzzled face come from the darker woman.

“Une bouteille de rouge, anything from 32’ if you have it, S’il vous plait.”

“Sidecar. Please.”

With grace the man nodded and walked away to fill their order. The women sat across each other in awkward silence. Natalie’s short nails tapped rhythmically on the table. She had that same glazed look when she thought deeply about something. Renee scratched her head to relive the pain of a headache forming there. The voices were torturing her, along with her own.

_She’s mad at you._

_You fucked up._

_Look now she’s not even talking to you._

_I know, I know, I know! I just don’t understand what I did wrong!_

“I never expected you to like those types of drinks.” Natalie stated as they were served.

“Never liked the bitterness of most alcohols, I guess.”

“So you must have a sweet tooth then!” She smirked and all of a sudden was back to her bubbly self. The abrupt transition caught her off guard as she cautiously quipped back.

“I’d have to, since I’m with you.”

“Logic and Flattery…” Natalie hummed as she sipped a particularly dark red wine. She sat the glass back down and sighed. Her hand went to nervously comb through her bangs, the fingers tugging on the fluffy blonde locks occasionally. “I’m sorry about earlier, I was just overwhelmed with all of the… everything. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s fine, I was just worried I did something wrong.”

“Non, of course you didn’t.” She cooed and placed her free hand over Renee’s. “It is just hard for me to focus on multiple sensations sometimes.”

“I’ll be more careful then.” She replied intertwining their fingers.

“Please do not blame yourself, Cherie. I have always been like that. I just wish… It still gets in the way sometimes and I wish it not a part of me.”

“I don’t.”

“You don’t?”

“It’s just a part of you yeah? Like my connection to the void… in a way. Even if you don’t like it, you’re not controlled by it. You have the freedom to either let it dominate you or accept it as just another little part of you.”

“At least that’s just what I think.” Renee added with a light blush coating her cheeks.

“That’s very wise, Renee.”

“Well, the others helped me come to that conclusion in the past year.”

“Hah, I never took Marvin nor Elliott as the retrospective types.”

“Not them, the others. Do you remember what it said in my file? I know you read the whole thing by now.” Renee smirked as Natalie coyly scratched her cheek.

“I might have taken a small peek.”

“You took the photos too…” Renee smiled into the brim of the martini glass. Flustered, Natalie stammered to get the conversation back on track.

“I-I, Who are the others?”

“My file should have stated my condition after the completion of the experiment.”

“Oui, delusions including fits of psychosis, paranoia, self-harm, harm to others, and a possible acute case of schizophrenia with the patient often speaking to others seemingly not present.” Natalie listed with the normality of a grocery list.

“Impressive for you to remember all of that. Even more so that you are voluntarily with someone that fucked up.”

“Renee…” Natalie started but was cut off by a hand and small smile.

“I’m only joking, I’m better now anyway. I figured out ways to manage those issues but the others, I can still talk to them. It’s the void, it lists out all these possibilities for me and the others are different versions of me going through it.

“Like different instances?”

“Sure, that’s one way to put it. They help me pick the correct path.”

“What are they saying right now?”

“Right now, nothing. They only give advice when I’m in danger. I suspect it was just supposed to be another tool for the Third Reich’s super soldier to have.”

“They only speak when you are in danger?”

“Yeah, or when they feel like teasing me.”

_You bring it upon yourself…_

“Wait!” Natalie gasped and leaned over the table to stare at something on Renee’s face. Renee reflexively recoiled.

“Uh, what’s up Nat? Is something wrong?”

“They said something right?!”

“How did you…”

“Your eyes! The color lightened a tiny bit like when you carried me through that place!”

_Oh she’s good._

“There it is again!”

“Natalie, you never cease to amaze me.” Renee chuckled into the last of her drink. “The doctors told me it was just a side effect of the sedatives, even they didn’t believe what they created. But you proved in twenty minutes I wasn’t just plain crazy.”

“It wasn’t hard, your eyes are pretty to look at after all.”

Natalie smiled as she brought the glass once more to her red lips. Renee felt her throat go dry as she watched the woman bite softly on her lower lip after she set the glass down. As she was just about to gather her courage into a retort the loud click of heels pulled their attention out to the restaurant. Quickly Renee pulled her hand away from Natalie as a well-dressed woman strutted into view. Gold jewelry covered her wrists and neck. Heeled boots gave her already tall figure an imposing amount of height. Natalie quickly stood up to greet the woman with a handshake. The woman was closer in age to her then the engineer and spoke with a thick accent as she brought up the hand to kiss the knuckles.

“It has been too long, Miss. Paquette.”

Renee’s fingers dug into her own thigh at the familiar action. She wanted to jump up and wrap her arm around her girl, but the others warned her of the small cane the older woman held possessing a thin sharp blade concealed inside. She watched as Natalie brushed the flirtatious gesture away.

“That it has, and though it would be a pleasure to catch up. We wouldn’t wish to spend any more of your valuable time in the city then necessary.”

“Pity, I would have loved to hear about all the nice, beautiful things you have created.”

“Another time.” Snapped Renee from her spot at the table.

“Oh and who’s this? A friend of yours, beautiful?”

“Oui! Renee Blasey, Renee this is Loba Andrade.”

“How interesting. A pleasure Miss. Blasey.” Loba said while extending a perfectly manicured hand. Renee huffed and shook it quickly as to hurry up the whole interaction.

Natalie guided her to sit with them, the engineer sliding to the back of the corner booth to be in-between the older women. Loba smiled as she helped herself to Natalie’s wine bottle.

“You always know my favorites…” She said lowly to the blonde as she reached for a spare glass. Renee started to seethe in her spot as the woman had Natalie pour her a glass.

“Only because you have the same bottles at your parties.”

“What can I say, I know what I like. And I know how to get it…”

Renee nearly snarled at the hungry look Loba gave the younger woman. Her hand was cramping at the force she used to dig into her thigh. Natalie only ignored the obvious flirt and dug though her purse to pull out a small clean cufflink.

“That’s exactly why I called you here. I need you to look at this. Do you think you can tell us about it?”

As Natalie set the piece of jewelry on the table, Renee watched as Loba’s eyes went wide and she scooped up the trinket.

“This-this…” She said and her gaze snapped up to meet Renee’s. Her voice had a distinct growl to it as Renee felt herself as if she was staring down the angry gaze of a wolf itself. “This has to do with you, right?”

“You know what it means, or not?” Renee snapped back and sparks flew between the women.

“I do, and I know better than anyone the danger this brings! If you intend on dragging her into this-”

“Loba please!” Natalie interrupted and wrapped a hand around her forearm. “I’m involving myself for no reason other than I wish to. Do not blame Renee.”

Loba sighed, but the tension didn’t leave her shoulders. She slid an inch closer to the young woman and covered Natalie’s hand with her own. “The group hunting you is quite infamous among the social elite, referred to as the Syndicate. This would be equivalent to their attack dogs. I’m sure they had already sent a hound to sniff you out?”

“They did.” Natalie confirmed. “Dose this Syndicate have any connection to the Third Reich?”

“A better question would be what connection don’t they have, beautiful. I know better than to ask questions, but I happen to recognize this particular symbol and I would be _very inclined_ to rid him of this world.”

“That would be so helpful!”

“Oh yeah and what can you do?” Renee grumbled.

“I happen to have numerous connections.” She smirked and inspected her nails. “Money, weapons, technology, they could all be yours. Just say the word.”

“What’s the catch?”

“Oh there’s no catch!” Loba grinned and slid her arm subtly around Natalie’s waist. “Anything for a _friend_.”

“That is very generous, but…”

“We’ll be fine on our own.” Renee said lowly with ice coating the words. As much as she wanted to drag Natalie away from the woman’s grasp she was scared how she would look to the girl to be so possessive. Luckily, she didn’t need to worry as Natalie herself had finally caught on and slid over to lean against the shorter woman.

“I see, very well. The offer of my services still stand. I want to see that Demonio dead.”

_She could find him…_

A pounding headache flared at the words and a foggy memory flooded into her. It was the other one. She was back in the chair. Her head felt light yet heavy as her black bangs were no longer hanging in her face. She desperately pulled at the restraints on her wrists to no avail. She saw heavy black boots stomp up to her. They belonged to the other one. The other one that took great joy in preforming his experiments on her. He face was blurred behind a fogged up gas mask, but the low laugh had haunted her most painful nightmares.

_He’s still alive…_

“If you want him dead, I need to find somebody. The one I think may be behind all of this.”

“Oh and who is that, lovely?”

“Dr. Alexander Nox.”


	13. City of Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their tense meeting ended, Natalie and Renee finally had some free time to spend in one of the world's most romantic cities. Together they explore everything...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh! Warning it'sa spicy one! Like for real I wasn't kidding about that eventual smut tag. I've updated the story to reflect more mature teams. If that ain't your cup of tea and you're just here for the fluff I'll add a line break partway through as a warning. Also I'm crap at writing smut but am trying to improve, and tips (lol see what I did there?) would be appreciated thanks. Have a good weekend guys! - <3 Redsnow

Loba had left them not too long after working out an agreement. She got up stating she would have the perfect man for the job, and she wanted to run the doctor’s name by a trusted companion of hers as it sounded familiar. She merely blew a kiss to the women as she walked away.

“Do enjoy your date on me! A lady knows when she’s out gunned.” She winked.

Natalie only blushed as she felt a strong arm wrap protectively around her waist and kept her from moving back to the other side. Renee’s face was stoic as she looked up in confusion. Words didn’t need to be exchanged for Natalie to understand the relief flooding into her companion as the other woman left. She knew Renee was possessive now, but she didn’t realize the extent. It would be easy to tease her, but only after thinking a moment did she understand how much she had to restrain herself. especially around someone so forward like Loba.

_That must not have been easy for her…_

“Cherie are you alright?”

The older woman’s gaze snapped to her and sharp eyes softened. Her voice was soft and low as they sat next to each other. “Yeah, mind if we get something to eat?”

Food was ordered and much to Renee’s delight everything was exceptionally prepared. She enjoyed watching Renee eat. Her eyes always got so big and her movements were always the most animated. Manners weren’t as much a top priority as Natalie’s, but they weren’t horrible either. Just little charming quirks and fo-pas that are more cute then disgusting. By the time dessert came around Renee had a permanent little smile on her face. It only grew as a fancy glass filled with rich chocolate mousse was set in front of her.

“Wow that looks amazing!”

“You know…” Natalie cooed as she rested her head in her hand. “You are very easy to please, sometimes.” With one of her fingers she swiped a small glop of whipped cream and dotted it onto Renee’s nose. Renee rolled her eyes.

“Oh and I suppose you aren’t having any dessert?”

“Non…” Natalie smiled devilishly and sat up closer to the woman. “Mine will come later…” she whispered and slowly kissed the cream off of her nose.

Renee’s back stiffened at the sight of Natalie’s tongue pulling the last of the sugar into her mouth when she pulled away. Natalie took great joy in seeing how worked up the woman was getting. The woman in question made quick work of her dessert to distract herself. Once they were done and the bill was forwarded on Loba’s behest, they left the restaurant.

It was completely dark out as they stepped outside. Natalie quickly took up Renee’s hand as she pulled her down the street. The city took on a new life as the sun went down. This side of the city wasn’t as touristy nor loud. As they turned the corner Natalie glanced back to see the glowing yellow street lights played beautifully on Renee’s pale skin. She glanced around, looking for danger only to find none, then settled her gaze on the engineer. A cautious smile graced her lips.

“I hope you have a plan, you’re apartment is the other way.”

“I like said! This is our opportunity to go on a proper date!”

“Haha, lead the way.”

Natalie smiled and dragged the woman a block or so away. She knew the perfect place and only smiled more as light music began to fill the streets. There nestled between a few buildings was a small park with a live band playing. A small crowd had formed to either listen to the music or many had taken to dancing on a makeshift dance floor. Natalie stopped them across the street and looked up to the woman with a sheepish smile. She cupped Renee’s hand with hers and held it up to her chest. Renee sighed at the unasked question and glanced at the people dancing. Natalie of course noticed all the couples were men and women as well and seemed to visibly deflate. Renee’s brow furrowed and she stared at the dancers for the remainder of the song. As the next started she nodded.

“Come on, let’s go join them.”

“But- I forgot we’re not as common.”

“So? I don’t care. They’re all going to be staring at how beautiful you are anyway.”

Before she could retort she felt herself be pulled along by the taller woman. The song was upbeat and relatively quick. Renee dragged her to the floor and quickly took up a leading stance much to Natalie’s surprise. The answer became clear as she saw Renee’s eyes faintly gloss over in white. Even with help, she was still a little stiff at first. A little giggle soothed any of her nerves and they quickly started drawing eyes. To Renee’s surprise Natalie was more than just competent when it came to dancing. The tap of her shoes was accurate and the flutter of her blue skirt was absolutely memorizing. It helped that she had a partner like Renee. Someone strong and surefooted that she trusted to catch her if she fell. As the last note hit and she spun into her arms a dangerous thought entered the young engineer’s mind.

_I don’t want to live without her in my life anymore._

Her thoughts were interrupted with a small round of applause coming from the crowd. She had forgotten they were even in public for a moment as a few cheery whistles sounded. Embarrassed she waved at the onlookers who seemed not to mind their dance.

“I think we should head back now.”

Natalie was about to ask why, but a quick glance at how red Renee’s ears were told her everything she needed to know. She nodded and walked with her partner away from the crowd. There were a few disappointed to see them go, but many wished them a happy farewell. On their way back Natalie couldn’t help but wrap herself around Renee’s arm and nuzzle into the soft fabric.

“You cheated, ma Cherie.” Natalie chided in a sing-song voice.

“I wouldn’t say it was cheating, I just had a few pointers.”

“It was most certainly cheating.”

“I’m just glad you didn’t step on my foot.”

“I would never! Papa taught me well enough.”

“Did he also teach you how to torture your date as well?” Renee mumbled.

“Non, did you not want to dance?!” Natalie said panicky.

“No! I mean yes, I did. I wasn’t talking about that. It’s your flirting.”

“My flirting?”

Renee chuckled and winked down to the younger woman. Her eyes were half lidded and the sharpness of want sent heat directly to her core. “You’re playing a dangerous game tonight, Miss. Paquette.”

“Good, I do so enjoy danger.” She smirked back.

The next thing she knew her back was being slammed on the inside of her apartment door. Hungry lips were all but devouring hers. Renee hands dug into her hips as she kissed her. Her legs and arms reflexively hooked around the older woman as she felt a tongue probe into her mouth. She was quickly learning how aggressive a lover Renee was. She was also quickly learning how much she wanted this from the very beginning. It was when Renee was laying kisses upon kisses down the scared side of her neck did the words tumble out of her breathless mouth.

“Merde, I love you, Renee!”

The kisses came to a sudden halt and Natalie nearly wined for the sensations to return. Her dazed vision cleared in the dim apartment. Renee stared at her in shock. Her lips smudged with her own lipstick and partly hung open. She seemed to debate something in her mind. Natalie watched as the others hounded her with messages.

“I mean it, I love you Renee Blasey.” Natalie stated with a wide smile.

Finally a few tears welled up in the older woman’s eyes and Renee back her away from the door to hold her properly. “I love you too, Nat.”

They were both crying as they kissed once more. It wasn’t as aggressive but still filled with just as much passion. Natalie broke away and all but skipped to the record player. With a twist of a knob soft waltz-y music started playing. She quickly wiped the last of her tears before turning around with a smile.

“Encore une danse? Please Cherie?”

“As if I’d ever say no.” Renee sniffed and smiled.

This dance was much slower than their pervious. Their bodies fit together like puzzle pieces perfectly conforming to each other. The singer was surprisingly singing in English, his voice rich and raspy perfectly suited to the many big band instruments in the background. The steps were slow and simple which allowed her time to appreciate every part she adored about the older woman. From how silky her black hair is, to how muscular her narrow shoulders were. Her eyes Natalie deemed to be her favorite feature. The way they pierce through her in that, "I’m going to take care of you in _every_ sense of the word ", way. Anticipation grew as she felt Renee’s hand on her waist lower past her hip to settle gently on her ass. The dance slowly halted as Renee’s feet refused to move. Her hands gripped tighter to the girl as she bowed her head into the crook of her neck.

“Nat, I need you.” Renee breathed out into her shoulder.

“Need me how?”

A firm squeeze to her ass and a few trailing kisses up her neck started to lay out her answer, but the low breathy way Renee spoke sent her to the edge. “Please Nat, I’m ready.”

* * *

Natalie’s face both burned in embarrassment and excitement as she led Renee to her bedroom. Renee was in for another surprise as the tower in the window she had seen earlier was glowing bright with hundreds of lights. It was beautiful it almost distracted her from Natalie’s nervous fussing around the room. To stop her fidgeting hands she sat down on the edge of her bed and forced her hands between her knees. Renee seemed to be calmer about this situation as she casually sat down next to her. She in fact sighed in relief as she pulled off the heeled shoes she was wearing and rubbed her aching feet. Once off she huffed loudly and fell back into the soft covers of Natalie’s bed.

“You sound like an old man, Cherie!” Natalie giggled.

“Gee thanks. Why do shoes always hurt when you first wear them?! They’re the correct size, but they still hurt!”

“The pain one must go through to look beautiful is tough indeed.”

“I can’t imagine the pain you must be in then.”

“It is unbearable.” Natalie chuckled and bent down to look at her lover. She tucked a few strands of blonde hair behind her ear as she added. “Care to sooth it away?”

Renee merely smiled and leaned up on her elbows to capture the blonde’s lips. Natalie slipped her leg over thinner hips and hands went to work unbuttoning the dark jacket. The article was thrown to the side along with her white blouse and skirt. As Natalie went to remove the black scarf Renee stopped her and slid out from under the girl.

“Just one sec. Let me just…” Renee mumbled as she walked to Natalie’s desk to neatly fold the worn fabric. She patted the small pile before turning back to the girl.

“Sorry, where were we?”

“That scarf must mean a lot to you.” Natalie said while tilting her head to the side.

“Yeah.” Renee smiled looking at the fabric fondly. “It was the first thing Marvin gave me, he said I looked cold.”

“You do look quite cold.” Natalie smirked and gestured to the thin plain white bra remaining on her chest and matching underwear.

“Can’t say that I am. In fact, you look overdressed.” Renee smirked back devilishly and slowly walked back to the bed.

Her stride was nothing less than predatory, like a cat stalking its prey. Natalie on the other hand was losing her edge and looking more like a fidgety rabbit under that gaze. Kisses did little to sooth her as when she felt the first two buttons of her blouse unbutton she grabbed at Renee’s hands to stop them.

“Ah Cherie! I really should have warned you, but the scar on my hand. It doesn’t just stop there. I’m afraid I’m not very much to look at.”

“Can I see?” Renee said in such a soft tone it made Natalie’s heart melt that much more. “I love all of you and want to love all of you.”

Natalie nodded with a face full of blush as Renee went back to work undoing the buttons of her orange blouse. One by one they came apart and Natalie busied herself with undressing Renee as well. Renee watched as more peachy freckled skin came into view. It was warm and soft looking. The right side of the girl’s body told a different tale. The skin was rough and leathery, discolored and distorted with raised scar lines. Her hand traced the familiar edges that sunk to her navel. Unclasping the hook in the center of her chest freed her breasts from the confines of a powder blue bra. She saw what seemed to cause the woman’s insecurity. The left breast was covered in the same scar marks so much so the nipple was cut clean though with the raised lines.

Renee knew exactly where to start as she peppered kisses all along that nipple. Natalie bucked at the sudden contact. Moans quickly tumbled out of her mouth as her hands sunk into dark locks. The older woman hummed happily as she slipped her hands under the engineer in time with her back arching. She held her taught frame close to her own as her teeth dragged to greet the other breast. More mewling spilled from the younger woman, though seemingly less than before. Vaguely she felt plush thighs shift around her and in a surprising show of strength Renee found herself flipped and pinned under the girl. Natalie now above her shed her loose clothing and looked down at her with goofiest smiled and eyes heavy with lust.

“My, My Renee! What a pretty pair you have!” She clapped and set her hands to gently cup squishy breasts. They were more than ample to fill her small hands, but she hesitated and looked back up to her lover. “You do not know how much I’ve wanted to do this.”

Renee had to take a few deep breaths to steady herself. To be touched so gently, the concept baffled her. Natalie seemed to be waiting for the go ahead as she reached up to thumb over her scared cheek. The woman nuzzled into the touch with a light hum.

“What are you waiting for then?”

“I just didn’t want to pressure you in any way.”

“Thanks.” Renee smiled and pulled her down for a little kiss. “But, I already told you. I think I’m ready now. Especially if it’s you.”

Natalie smiled that goofy smile and just about squealed at the soft words. She immediately set to work letting her horny little heart rampage all across Renee’s chest and abs. Soft kisses and licks were soon replaced with sucks and little nips. She enjoyed pulling all sorts of noises from the woman. Natalie quickly learned that Renee enjoyed a slower gentler touch punctuated with a little pressure not pain. She particularly liked it when Natalie kissed around a dark nipple only to rub the flat of her tongue slowly against the hard bud. A sharp gasp was followed by a pleased purr and hands flew to sink nails into the younger girl’s curves. Below her hips began to buck upward searching for relief.

“Mon Deiu, Renee. You are so beautiful.” Natalie mumbled as she began to worship those barely hidden abs.

The engineer slowly slipped off the bed and decided to put on a little show for Renee to tease her. She kept her back facing the woman and in the soft ambient light, let her skirt fall to a pile around her feet. Slowly she tugged the blue lacy fabric down over the plump curve of her ass. She sighed when she felt the damp fabric skim down her leg. With a shit-eating smirk she glance over her shoulder expecting to see a flushed and embarrassed woman only to see the bed empty. In fact the room was empty with only a faint draft in the air. She stood up with a confused face and clasped her hands together in worry.

She didn’t need to worry long as another cool draft breezed by her and appearing out of thin air was a familiar woman. Renee phased back in to the world behind the woman, spooking her. As she jumped Renee aggressively threw her back down onto the bed. Natalie’s back barely settled back onto the mattress before she felt cool fingers rubbing quickly between her folds and Renee pounced on top of her. Teeth came next, nipping their way down a collar bone and locking onto a scared nipple. Natalie was the opposite of Renee, preferring more aggressive movements and every hard bite or scratch sent more heat to the fire building within her. The rubbing of her clit quickened and had Natalie mewling once more. They were submissive and pathetic sounding as Natalie desperately ground her hips against Renee’s palm. She felt Renee’s smile as she kissed her other breast.

“You sound so wonderful, Nat. So wonderful for _me_.”

Natalie could only groan as the pressure was removed from her clit. She was about to protest until she felt the fingers slip lower and traced the outside of her entrance. Natalie looked up to her lover who had the biggest set of dopey loved filled eyes she had ever seen on her. Every single one of her features seemed to go soft as she smiled.

“Can I make you mine, Natalie?”

The implications took a moment to realize in the engineer’s head. When they did she couldn’t help the new wave of blush that coated her cheeks. This wonderful woman above her was about to take her like no one had ever had. She could help but giggle.

“I’m already yours, Idiote.”

The smile on the older woman’s face grew as she giggled along with her. Slowly she inserted two thin fingers. Barely past the nail Natalie was already softly groaning. She didn’t know if she regretted not experimenting with this part of herself or not. The answer became clear when she felt a sharp pain travel up her spine. Her scared hand clapped around her mouth to muffle the surprised scream. Concerned Renee leaned down to lay soothing kisses all along her neck. It helped as the sudden pain quickly switched to pleasure and Natalie was already bucking her hips up into Renee’s hand. Renee started to flex her hand in time with her and soothing kisses were replaced with heavy bites as she started fucking her earnestly. In the daze of ecstasy she found herself in, she noted the low growls coming from the older woman as her teeth sunk into the soft flesh of her shoulder.

“Fuck Renee! C’est incroyable! Please don’t stop!”

The speed of her hand increased at the words. Sloppy wet noises and panting filled the room, often punctuated by gasped moans as Renee curled her fingers just right. She never masturbated like this so it was a surprise she found herself quickly coming to a climax with penetration alone. It was the addition of a third finger that sent her flying off the edge and moaning Renee’s name as she came.

-

Renee stretched her wrist above her as Natalie heavily panted down from her high. Renee smirked as her gaze lulled over to the woman. She toyed with her as she brought the sticky fingers up to her lips and sucked them clean one by one. A new fire of determination was lit within the young woman.

“I will wipe that smirk off your face, Cherie. One way or another.” She said between labored breaths.

“I’d love to see you try.”

The little pout of determination was so cute, Renee forgot about the hidden strength of this girl. She must be used to lifting heavy electrical components or something as Renee found herself thrown above the girl’s shoulders. On her hands and knees she felt soft lips kiss down her spine and curious hands cup her breasts. They massaged and gently rolled the nipple between her fingers. Renee found herself sighing and relaxing the tension in her muscular body. Still the kisses went lower and seemingly stopped at the hem of her underwear. Renee’s eyes went wide as she felt the cotton slip down her hips. She snapped her head back to see a sight that made her mouth water. Natalie dragged her underwear off using nothing but her teeth. Once past her ankles Natalie sat up on her knees. She would look as prim and proper as always, if not for the fact the girl had the handful of damp fabric shoved up to her nose and was inhaling deeply. Renee rolled onto her back in disbelief. She watched as the girl sighed contently and brought her hands along with the fabric back down to sit neatly on her lap. Her expression was one of pure bliss as her eyes glazed over.

“Uh, Nat? You alright over there? Still functioning?”

“Oui!” Natalie smiled and climbed in between Renee’s thighs. The underwear was discarded as she sought out her true prize. “You smelled so amazing and interesting I could not help myself!”

“I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be charming or perverted.” Renee said with a concerned smile.

“Probably perverse to most. But as you said, I am in love with _all_ of you.”

“I was trying to comfort you about your body, so you twisted that, so you could be a pervert?”

“Are you saying that it was a false statement?” Natalie said with mischief in her voice and nuzzled her cheek into Renee’s toned thigh. “Said only to comfort me into you taking away my virginity?”

“What!? No! I meant it! Every word.”

“Good, as did I.” She giggled and started to lay kisses along toned legs.

Renee was going to retort, but small fingers started to rub into her folds and the only sound that escaped her throat was a low groan. Kisses traveled lower and ghosted over her center. Renee didn’t resist as a soft tongue circled the hard bundle of nerves. She sighed and felt her whole body relax into the touch. She felt fuzzy and when she looked down she saw the most electric blue eyes staring back at her from between her legs, her heart melted at the sight. She threaded her hand through fluffy blonde hair and rested it there. She didn’t pull or tug, just enjoyed the intimacy and gentle bobbing of the young woman’s head as she worked patterns around her clit.

“Naaaatalie…” She groaned as the woman in question sucked her clit up into her mouth.

She could feel the sheets below her start to get damp with how much wetness was flowing out of her. Everything around her felt entirely too soft, the only thing that ground her from flying away was the rough patches of Natalie’s skin that brushed against her thigh and folds. It was heaven, only made better by a tongue being replaced by fingers and said tongue probing her entrance. The heavy enthusiastic slurping noises were embarrassing, but somehow made her heart beat quicker as she felt pressure build up in her core. With a deep breath, the younger girl plunged as deep as she could go and added a bit more pressure to her clit. The full feeling of her tongue and excellent coordination of her fingers put Renee on edge as her back arched off the bed. Her breathing stopped and her eyes screwed tight as absolute pleasure crashed into her. With a loud moan she came down shaking. Tremors made her legs twitch as Natalie continued to lazily lick her.

Renee whimpered at the overstimulation and pawed at the girl’s shoulders to get her to come up and cuddle with her. Natalie placed one more noisy kiss to her reddened clit before wrapping her arms around her lover and slipping under the covers. Renee cradled the blonde’s head into her chest as she held her. Natalie couldn’t be happier as she gleefully nuzzled into her favorite pair of breasts in the world.

“Thank you, Nat.”

“Ma plaisir!”

Renee giggled at the mumble reverberating through her chest. Too much had happened that day and Renee felt sleep quickly take over her. She lazily petted blonde hair and watched the glowing tower in the distance. She felt Natalie shift slightly in her arms and her breathing lightened as she drifted off, exhausted as well.

_This is what you’re fighting for…_

_Don’t let it slip away…_

_Don’t become her again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in this house we stand consent and laughing during sex.


	14. Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since she dreamt about it. About her. Like always, it's a nightmare. One that can't happen again.

The concreate walls were cold. Ice cold stone chilled her back through the restraints as she sat on the floor. The only thing protecting her ass from being froze as well was the remains of a thin mattress and scrub pants. There was no other furniture in this cell, even the singular light fixture was embedded into the ceiling. The only entrance was a steel door with no handle on this side. There were no windows. Not even a small one embedded in the door. Time passed or maybe it didn’t, she didn’t know or care. Caring would only cause her to lose more of her dwindling sanity, at least that’s what one of the voices had warned her about.

The voices, how they tormented her with unfocused warnings. A constant sea of noise flooding into her head. She shouted at them to stop, to be quiet. She shouted until she had no voice to throw at them, yet they persisted. Even now they chide her with vague unfocused warnings. It hurt, it hurt so much she slammed her shaved head into the icy stone to at least feel a different type of pain for the moment. Again and again she did it until a small splatter of red defaced the gray stone. As she was admiring the different color she heard the door click open behind her. Three soldiers rushed in to stop her. She fought back, but with her arms bound in a strait jacket she was easily subdued.

The men in the grayish green uniforms led her out of the cell. Her bare feet flinching at the cold stone as she was dragged/carried into the hallway. The hallway over looked familiar testing chambers. All sanitized and soulless shades of gray. Many uniformed men trudged by her. Some carried weapons and wore helmets, while others wore white coats over their green uniforms. She knew where she was heading and to preoccupy her thoughts she watched the blood slowly fall from her head to drip and stain the gray stone floor beneath her dangling feet. The ground below her turned into wood as she was guided into a chamber with a heavy chair in the center. There they sat her and belts were fastened along her legs and hips. The straight jacket was undone only enough to tie her wrists to the arms of the chair.

One of the men who carried her here wore a flat cap with a tiny visor on the front. She hated that hat. It always proceeded pain. She wasn’t wrong as the man who wore the flat cap reared back a fist and buried it into her stomach. She wheezed and coughed at the sudden pain. A few more blows followed, only to be stopped by another man entering the room. This one she hated the most. He was a man in his late thirties or maybe early forties. He wore a white lab coat and had dark messy hair that formed into a barely tamed beard on his chin. He shooed the officer out in an unfamiliar language and crouched down with a gentle smile. She didn’t need the voice’s warnings not to trust him, his eyes said it all.

“Dr. Singh.” She snarled.

“Subject 61137. Why have you hurt yourself like this?” He said as he traced the throbbing wound from her head.

“They won’t stop talking.”

“They? And who is they?”

“The others!”

“Right… you’ve mentioned these _others_ before.”

“They exist! I’m not lying.” She gritted her teeth.

“Of course you’re not!” He smiled and stood up. “These others, what do they say, exactly?”

“I don’t know, it’s always too jumbled to make out.”

“Oh really?” He said with fake disappointment. “It’s funny 61137, you survived the procedure and all you have to show for it are these, _voices_. Voices that seem not to say anything of relevance. Along with your delusions, we may have to rethink our plans about our testing procedures…”

At that moment another larger scientist walked through the door. His face was covered in a large gas mask and the chemical smell coming off him burned in her nose. He handed Singh a folder and before he left, he roughly tilted her jaw to the side to get a better look at the wound to her head.

“There’s your report on my previous tests on this one. I found her to be-“ He spoke before he quickly pulled his hand away, narrowly avoiding being bitten by the woman. “- quite strong spirited.” 

“Haha, that is very true Dr. Nox. Only if we could somehow remove her rebellious will from the equation…” After a moment the man pounded his fist into an open hand. His smile was bright as if he just figured out a hard math problem. “Oh I know! There are plenty of cases of individual’s personalities changing when receiving frontal lobotomies!”

“Will they grant you permission to do that? They are expecting a perfect solider not something brain dead.”

“I’ll smooth it over with the higher ups. Oh this is going to be perfect!” He smiled wickedly.

The woman tried to fight her way out of the restraints but the leather was strong and the metal was unyielding. Singh chuckled at her writhing and pulled out a small blue needle tipped gun. She fought and attempted to bite as he came close. He easily held her at bay and the needle plunged new pain into her neck. As the world was fading she watched the men continue to talk.

“How quickly can you get it scheduled?

“Early next week, at the latest.”

“Very good, this should work.”

“If not, she’s just another lab rat.”

-

She woke up freezing on the concrete floor. Her mattress was balled up in the corner as she shivered awake. The hard stone left her sore as she slowly stood to her feet. She felt the throbbing pain on the side of her head weaken and the wound was covered in a small bandage. Her stomach angrily growled at her. How long was she out? Her body proclaimed with another growl that it must have been pretty long. Her lips were dry and chapped as well. Slowly she stumbled to the steel door and kicked it.

“Food, Water, anything please?”

There came no answer, so she tried again and again with no answer. She pounded on the door and screamed for anyone. She could feel many boots moving outside. Moving quickly and ignoring her screams. In desperation she held her ear up to the door trying to hear anything. Just as she did so a woman’s voice broke through her mind, clear and urgent.

_Get away from the door! Under the mattress!_

What processed her to do what the voice commanded was beyond her. It sounded familiar so maybe she could trust it. No sooner as she dived under the thin mattress did the steel door blow off its hinges and slam to the floor in an explosion. She coughed as the room filled with dust. Though her ears were ringing she could make out the distinct pop of gunfire somewhere in the bunker. The twisted steel frame of the door led to numerus sharp edges for her to cut through the restraints on her arms. After doing so she peeked into the hallway. The once neat and orderly lab had been blown to bits. Sunlight from above peaked through a gaping hole in the roof that was torn open from some sort of air bombing. Soldiers were still rushing around as she snuck out of her room. She was small and she was light footed. She easily went past the distracted guards and heard fighting from the tunnels. She saw brown uniformed men fighting her captors. With the voice guiding her she snuck into a medium sized vent. On the other side was a less traveled hall way. Just as she was about to open the metal grate a brown uniformed man was shot down and landed a foot or so away from where she was hiding.

He looked young, barely twenty as he laid wide eyed in front of her. She felt bad for his passing, but grateful that it seemed quick. She saw his weapon lying next to him. It looked like a sub machine gun of some sort. She quickly opened the grate to snatch it and feeling pain for him, shut his eyes.

“Thank you, I’ll put this to good use.” She mumbled and re-shut the grate.

Now armed she backtracked and ended back in the main hallway. Many of her captors were still fighting the new comers and as she crawled out she found that she stood behind most of them. She shouldered the gun almost by muscle memory and aimed at a group of Nazis close to her. With a quick burst they all fell. It felt good, so good to watch them fall after the hell they put her through. She continued on the war path down the hall. She must have killed a dozen or so before the gun clicked empty. The remaining soldiers chased her into the experiment chambers, or at least what was left of them. She barricaded the door by shoving a heavy cabinet against it, before looking around. She wasn’t familiar with this room as it had nothing to do with her experiments. It seemed to be a failed project storage area. Prototypes of all sorts of devices laid half-hazardly on the ground. She slung the gun over her shoulder as she scanned the ground for any type of weapon.

_Look out! To your left!_

She was able to dodge the heavy fist as it came into view. It was the same officer that took pleasure in beating her up. His hat was gone and his uniform was torn, but she recognized that heavy punch anywhere. She dodged another punch as he pushed her to the far corner of the room. She jumped up onto a table only for him to grab her leg and throw her to the other side of the room. Her back slammed into the wall and she landed in a pile of scrap metal. He was upon her quickly. As he bent down to pin her she grabbed for whatever she could. An oddly shaped piece of metal would have to do as she swiped him across the face. It cut deeply into his nose and he screamed. He barreled down on her with new rage and she felt the air get knocked out of her lungs. It hurt. Every punch hurt. She shut her eyes and waited for the last only for it to never come. When she opened her eyes she saw a world without color. The man above her a mere shadow. She rolled out from under him and felt the familiar cold, though this time it was not forced upon her. She felt free here. She felt light. She maneuvered behind him and the world filled with color. She struck, sinking the metal into his back again and again until he no longer moved.

She stood back from the mess she made. Her white jacket was painted red and the metal in her hand was coated in it as well. Inspecting the metal revealed it to be a strange looking double sided knife. It radiated the same energy as that other place. Carefully she wiped it on her pants and moved to the office connected to the room. Before she left a voice directed her to a leather bracer tossed off the table she stood on not too long ago.

_Take it, it will help…_

“What would it do?”

_Control the void._

“The void! Is this the other world they were talking about?!”

_Yes, but it is not theirs, it belongs to us._

She nodded and slid the bracer over her forearm. The screen lit up with the same energy as her knife. There were only error codes, but she kept it on if not to just humor the kind voice. Through the offices she traveled until she found one labeled Dr. Singh. She cracked open the door to see the man fussing over some files. Rage filled her as she slammed open the door. She went to approach him, but he fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a pistol.

“T-that’s far enough Subject 61137. No need to make rash decisions.”

“One of us isn’t going to leave this room alive.”

“That’s a shame, you really were a success and I’d hate to lose someone as valuable as you.”

“Don’t worry, I’m going to be the one leaving.” She snarled and slipped into the void.

The shot skimmed by her ear as she phased out of reality. She reappeared stabbing her knife into his arm, making him drop the pistol. She swiped wide getting him to take a step back, then another. He stumbled against the heavy chair and fell to the side of it. She picked up his discarded weapon and aimed it at him.

“You connected! You’re connected to the other world! I did it! I was right!”

“Yeah too bad, you won’t live to see your work come to fruition. I’m not going to be your weapon.”

“But look at you.” He sneered. “You already are. Just how many people’s blood is on that jacket?”

She ground her teeth and retrained the muzzle of the thin barreled gun back onto his forehead.

“Wait! Wait! We can work this out! I can help you get your memories back!”

She hesitated at his words. Her gun lowered slightly before snapping back up. “You were the one who took them away from me, like hell I’d ever trust you.”

Before he could speak shot after shot rang out. The blood splatted her face and coated the gun with every point blank blast. She was only satisfied as the gun clicked empty. With the adrenalin easing out of her system for the moment she felt her stomach churn at the mess she made of him. She curled over and vomited whatever remained in her stomach.

“No more, never again.” She panted as she righted herself on his desk. Her hand glided over the folder the other scientist gave him. Information about herself. She flipped through it franticly, finding not much but a name and a number.

Renee Blasey

Age: 31

The building shook violently as another round of bombs hit the roof. She left the office to see the building starting to crumble. There was a small ding that chimed from her wrist. Looking down at the screen revealed the error messages to be gone and replaced with new text.

Portal Ready 100%

With a hesitant flick of her hand in the crumbling building a large blue portal opened up in front of her. Just as she was about to step in her eyes caught a glimpse of a man standing across the way in the entrance of a tunnel. He had on a lab coat and watched her escape through a fogged up gas mask.


	15. Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after a nightmare is always unsettling in its calm. At least Natalie is there to sooth any unease.

October 14th, 1945

Renee woke up with a pounding headache. Her throat ached as she swallowed. It had been too long since those memories plagued her. Of course Nox would be after her, he was the one who survived and had just as much involvement in her experiments. She sat up letting loose black hair drift down to her shoulders. She rubbed a dark lock between her fingers surprised at how long it’s gotten since then.

“Never again.”

_You will if you want to stop Nox._

“No, not like that. I won’t become a weapon like that again.”

_You were ready to destroy the assassin. This is no different._

“No. I was protecting Natalie. Nox will pay for his crimes.”

_You may never get your memories back. He could help you if you force him to._

“You don’t know that.”

It took a moment to realize she wasn’t in her room back at the post office. Natalie’s room was clean and organized, at least everywhere but her desk. Soft morning light filled the room and the engineer in question was nowhere to be found. Renee thumbed over the place next to her to find the sheets still warm, only empty. The warmth comforted her and reminded her that the previous night’s events were no dream. A little smile graced her lips as she hugged her knees to her chest. Vaguely she picked up low music and dishes clattering in the kitchen.

Renee rolled herself out of soft sheets at the noise. Routing through her knapsack she retrieved a pair of boxers and a hair tie. She at the very least wanted to tie the front part of her hair out of the way of her eyes. The half ponytail let the rest flow to her shoulders and she smiled at her reflection in the small mirror on her desk. Something about this person was different. It wasn’t the blush coating her cheeks at the lipstick stains on her face and neck. Or the little permanent smirk on her lips as she saw the raised scratch marks on her back. No, it was most certainly the color of her eyes. They seemed bluer, less icy, more filled with life. The scent of coffee and food pulled her gaze from the mirror. She left the quiet safety of Natalie’s room to sneak towards the kitchen.

There as she peeked into the doorway she saw a lovely sight. Natalie, her Natalie, was wearing her white blouse. It was a little tighter on her slightly larger frame. A few of the top buttons left unbuttoned exposing the top of her fuller chest. The music was soft and jazzy as she watched Natalie prepare breakfast. Her heart made a little murmur as she watched the girl happily bob her head to the song. Her hair was extra fluffy this morning and Renee couldn’t help herself. She snuck up behind the girl and slipped her arms around soft curves and nuzzled her face into the side of her head.

“Ah! Renee, one day you are going to give me a heart attack!” Natalie squeaked as Renee’s hand danced over her bare thighs.

“That’s okay, since you already stole mine…”

“Still a horrible flirt even this early in the morning?” Natalie giggled and twisted to place a chaste kiss to the older woman’s lips.

“Mmmm, I’m at my worst without coffee.”

Natalie’s eyes drifted lower as she spun in Renee’s arms. Blush creeped up her cheeks as she realized her lover’s aversion to shirts was true. Her staring must not have been hidden well as Renee chuckled.

“Nat? You still in there? Not short circuiting again are we?”

“My circuits are fully operational, Thank you very much!” She stuttered and playfully pushed the woman away. “Coffee’s over there, do help yourself.”

Renee snorted at how flustered she easily made the other woman. As she was stirring a surprising amount of sugar in her coffee she enjoyed catching Natalie’s staring glances as she cooked. Her face got more flustered every time she got caught. She flapped her hands down at her sides with a deep breath to calm herself down before grabbing two plates.

“If you want to eat, you are going to have to put something on.”

“Why? You seem to be enjoying the view.”

“It’s improper! Just throw something on while I plate these.” Natalie pouted at her. Renee shrugged and placed the mug down on the counter before walking passed the blonde. A devilish hand traced up her thigh as she strode past.

“How unfair, but at least _I_ can still ogle and keep my calm.” She smirked and snapped the elastic of Natalie’s underwear, pulling a squeak from the girl.

She slipped out of the kitchen before a pan was thrown at her only to return with a loose sweater on. Together they sat down and ate at a cleared corner of her dining table. It was a comfortable silence until Renee noticed Natalie open and close her mouth a few times as she hesitated to speak.

“What’s up?”

“It’s just, did you sleep well last night? Do you remember anything?”

“Hmm, I remember making love to you.” Renee smirked as Natalie’s face grew red.

“N-Not about that! About when you fell asleep. Do you remember the dream you had?”

“Dream? How did? I was talking again wasn’t I?”

Natalie sighed and laid her hands on her lap. Her face went dark as she spoke quietly. “Screaming actually.”

“Oh Nat…”

“I tried waking you up. Yet you wouldn’t. I was so scared, not for me but for you.” One of her hand carefully wrapped around Renee’s. “What did they do to you? What brought you this much pain? It broke my heart to see you like that.”

“It’s not a good story. I’m sorry I woke you.”

“That’s no problem, you were able to settle back down after a while.”

“That’s good.” Renee said while rubbing the back of a scared hand with her thumb. “Just please don’t think less of me after I tell you.”

“I won’t, I love you. I promise.”

Maybe it was the look of sheer determination the young woman had, or those three amazing little words, but Renee told her everything. Every painful experiment she had to endure, every person she had killed, every single one of the few memories she had.

“Wait!” Natalie said midway through her retelling. “That means you must be at least thirty two by now!”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“Oh, it’s nothing just uh. We have a slight, um age difference.”

“Wait how old are you?” Renee said with a small amount of panic in her voice.

“I will be turning Twenty three this year…”

Renee’s face made a little “o” shape as she processed this new fun fact. She guessed the woman was younger than her, but ten years was quite the difference.

“Dose this change-“

“Non! No! Of course not! I guess I thought you were younger. So take it as a complement?”

“And I thought you were more mature so, same to you?”

“Very good save, Cherie.” Natalie giggled and leaned to place a peck to the woman’s cheek.

Renee continued her story after that. Natalie sat quietly only occasionally asking the odd question or two and placing comforting kisses to Renee’s hand at seemingly difficult parts. Once she finished Renee struggled to stop the shaking from her hands.

“Thank you for that, ma amour. I think I’m starting to understand now. You do not need to carry this burden alone anymore. That person inside you that you are afraid of wont ever need to come back out. I’m going to protect you too.”

“You still want to be with me? Even after I told you I was a monster.”

“No, you told me you don’t want to be a weapon.”

“I don’t! But that doesn’t change the past!”

“I trust you, Renee. If you say you don’t want to ever be like that again, then you won’t.” She said then smiled and booped the woman on the nose. “Plus, who would deliver my mail?”

Tears were already threatening to fall by the time Natalie moved to pick the lean woman up. Renee clung tightly to the girl as she was carried back to Natalie’s bedroom. She was openly sobbing into her shoulder by the time they entered. Happy tears started to press against the engineer’s eyes as she rubbed the woman’s back.

“T-thank you, Nat… I promise. I-I promise I won’t mess up a single day.”

“I know you won’t Renee. I know you won’t.”

They slept away most of the morning together. It was nice as Natalie nuzzled into Renee’s sweater and hummed as Renee’s fingers drifted through her hair. They probably would’ve stayed that way if not for the heavy knock on the apartment door. Renee sprung to her feet and grabbed the pistol from the night stand. She cocked back the receiver and motioned for Natalie to stay in her room as she quietly approached the door. The humming of electrical fields died down as Renee went to peer through the peep hole. The engineer watched from the door way as Renee opened the front door and crouched down. Quickly she shut and relocked the door. In her hands was a small scrap of paper. She was reading it as she casually set the handgun back down on the messy dining room table.

“What’s it say?”

“Loba’s contact wants to meet us at the…” Renee’s face contorted trying to say the words. “Muse-musa du Louuv- Lovrea...”

“Musee du Louvre, ma Cherie. We will have to work on your pronunciation if you want to stay in France.” Natalie giggled.

“As long as you’re the one teaching me. Well, they say they want to meet us there in an hour.”

“We better get ready then, Oh! If we have time I can take you around the Museum.”

“It’s a museum?” Renee questioned as she followed Natalie back to her room to change.

“Oui! An art museum to be exact. I honestly have not been there in years as it’s a bit touristy, but you never been!”

“They probably picked it since there will be plenty of people around.”

“That can be played to our safety as well, non?” Natalie called over her shoulder as she clipped a bra back into place.

Renee glance up and felt her ears heat as she saw the blossoming bruise on the young woman’s shoulder. It was already turning purple but the shape of teeth marks were still very much present. Luckily Natalie quickly covered it with another high collard orange dress. Renee couldn’t help but smile as the young woman fidgeted with a navy beret, trying to place it perfectly on top of her head. Natalie turned once satisfied and smiled at her partner.

“Oh, l love that outfit on you! You look so smart!” She cheered and clapped her hands together with a little jump.

“Really? There’re just hand-me-downs from the villagers.” Renee mumbled and looked down at the gray slacks and almost matching vest. She didn’t even have a proper jacket to go over it. “Plus it’s not exactly feminine.” 

“That may be true, but I like it on you. It suits you in a way.” Natalie smiled and skipped her way over to her girlfriend.

“The shoes are comfier, that’s for sure. Though I liked being able to lean down to kiss you.”

“What’s stopping you?” She whispered and wrapped her arms around the older woman’s neck. Renee’s head cocked to the side with a mischievous smile.

“I have a better idea.”

Natalie squeaked as her feet left the floor. Renee lifted her up easily. Her hands cupped around her hips as Natalie leaned down to kiss the older woman. Natalie could feel her smile into the kiss as she was set down. She brushed the tip of her nose against Renee’s as they separated.

“Mmmhm, I see what you mean. Maybe I will have to buy a pair of heels myself.”

“With your coordination, I’ll give you two hours before you roll your ankle.”

“You’re so mean! Why do you tease me so much?” Natalie pouted. Her face looking more like a cherry with every passing heartbeat.

“To see that reaction.” Renee hummed and tucked the gun into the liner on her slacks. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”

“Only because you can’t keep your hands off me, Cherie.”

“Really? Because I think it was _you_ who wanted to bed me first.” She winked over her shoulder. Natalie huffed and stormed passed the woman with a smirk.

“At least I don’t literally pounce on my lovers when I fuck them.”

Renee's eyebrows raised at the crude language, but her pride made her huff back. “You loved it.”

“Never said I didn’t. Now let’s go. They’re going to be waiting.”


	16. Walls with many Windows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loba's contact had asked to meet them at the museum. Though unexpected, their warning dose not fall on deaf ears and the women decided to prepare for the fight of their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Hope your week has been going well! Did quite a bit of research for this chapter and to you history buffs, look up the Evacuation of the Louvre museum during World War 2. Really interesting stuff, and I swear they could make a movie about it if they hadn't yet. Alright I'll stop rambling. See you Thursday! <3

Renee’s head was on a swivel as they approached the museum. To her the building reminded her more of a palace or castle then an art museum. The center courtyard was expansive and flooded with people. Construction crews were currently working on the cobblestone pathways that were once, not too long ago, crushed with steel tank treads. Above more crews worked on the tin roofs, repairing left over damage from air bombings. Together they entered the building hand in hand. She was only half listening to Natalie’s excited ramblings as she came face to face with a large headless stature of a robed woman adorned with wings.

The marble was so finely carved she looked almost soft to the touch. As if the flowing material of her gown would move if she were to run her fingers along it. She felt Natalie sigh in relief as she took note of what caught Renee’s interest.

“Ah Dieu merci! I am glad they were able to keep her safe as well.”

“Her safe? She’s a statue.”

“She’s the Winged Victory of Samothrace, Cherie. A priceless piece of art, one were if fallen to Nazi hands, there would be no telling what would happen to her.”

“How did they keep her safe? Might want to take notes, since I have something priceless as well.” Renee smirked only to be met by a pair of rolled eyes.

“Well rumor has it on the last day before France had officially declared war on Germany, they, under the cover of repairs, were able to transport her and almost every other art piece out! They hid them all around the country and kept them out of the Third Reich’s reach.”

“So even this statue knows what it’s like to be on the run…”

“Oui, I guess you two are quite similar then!”

“Hah, at least I still have my head. Er, no offense.”

Natalie clicked her tongue and smiled as she pulled Renee deeper into the building. They traversed the quiet halls together looking in wonder at all of the fantastic paintings and sculptures. They had found themselves in one of these vaulted halls alone at one point. The paintings seemed even a bit unfamiliar to Natalie. It was quite as they walked together. Only one or two people would pass by as they left the more touristy areas. As Natalie was inspecting a brightly colored fresco on the wall a warning voice took over Renee’s thoughts.

_Behind you!_

Snapping her neck around she saw a man had tucked himself next to a large statue. He wore a trench coat and had familiar Asian features to his face. He stepped closer and reached for something inside his coat. Quickly Renee dived into a roll and drew the Lugar from the inner liner of her trousers. As she landed couched in front of him she was able to aim the gun up his chin. The hand that was reaching inside his jacket stopped.

“Halt your attack, Blasey. I’m not here to hurt you or Natalie.”

“Like hell I’d trust you! You kidnaped her!”

“Merde! Renee!”

In the whirlwind of panic the sound of a safety switch clicking off caught her attention. In his other had was a pistol of his own. The barrel was pressing lightly into her side as they stood close together. She was so distracted by the hand reaching inside his jacket she didn’t notice the other draw his own weapon. She cursed at herself for not paying more attention.

“Wait! We can talk this out!” Natalie pleaded from the side.

“He hurt you, Nat. I can’t let him get away with that.”

“I was only doing my job.”

“At this rate you’re both going to die! Loba sent you didn’t she?”

“Yes, I’ve worked with her in the past. She knows how good my skills are.”

“Renee, lower your gun, please.”

“But-“

“Renee lower it! He is not our enemy!”

“Nat you don’t understand.”

“You want to find the Doctor, yes? He’s going to help us. I don’t like it either, but he’s already more than proved adequate skill in tracking someone down.”

“If it makes you feel any better I want Nox dead just as much as you do.”

“Didn’t he employ you to track me down?” Renee grunted between her teeth. She re-aimed the muzzle of the gun to dig further into the underside of his chin. “Why do you want to betray him?”

“He took my sister away from me with the promise of returning her if I found you. He did, but she wasn’t the same.” A dark shadow graced his features and Renee felt the gun to her side falter a bit as his gaze drifted away.

“She is a shell of her former self, while in his custody he seemed to use her for a few of his experiments and, and… He needs to be destroyed. I want to help in whatever way I can.”

With a displeased grunt Renee lowered her gun and cautiously stepped away from the man. The man slid his own firearm back into his pocket and grabbed an envelope from the inside of his coat. He held it out to Natalie as she swiped it from his hand.

“What do we call you?” She questioned as she tore open the letter.

“My work name is Crypto. There lies the coordinates of the assassin’s last known location along with recent communications with the doctor.”

“Who’s side are you on, Crypto?” Renee questioned.

“No ones. Or at least whatever side benefitted me more at the time. But this, this is personal now. I didn’t want to hurt either of you, you’re going to have to trust me on that.”

“Trust doesn’t come easy to me.” Renee spat and crossed her arms.

“I understand, that is why I already gathered as much information as I could.”

“Renee, it says here that the assassin is still alive and recovering slowly in an abandoned monastery hidden in the Alps!” Natalie said franticly as she continued to read.

“What about Nox?”

“He’s still alive but-“

“I haven’t been able to locate him as of yet, I’m sorry.” Crypto said tiredly. “I just need a little more time, he’s elusive to say at least.”

“Cherie… It says here that the assassin is planning on filling his contract once he heals in a week or so…”

“It would be best to take the fight to him then. Crypto, how much time will you need to find Nox?”

“I’ll have his location by the time you take out the assassin. You have my word.” Crypto said sternly and held out his hand to Renee. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife as Renee sighed and shook his hand.

“Just lead me to Nox.”

“I will, I promise.”

The drive back to the village was quiet. Natalie had on a contemplating look ever since they left Crypto and the museum. Renee wasn’t much better off as she thought of ways to take down the assassin. Together they drove in silence. She watched Natalie’s lips form into a hard line and her brow furrow forward. That look of determination was always so beautiful to Renee.

“Nat-.”

“I’m going with you.” The Frenchwoman cut her off.

“Wait what? No, I can take care of him myself.”

“No you can’t.”

“Of course I can!” Renee said with anger slowly seeping into her words.

“You barely survived last time!” Natalie snapped back matching her fury. “He will know the territory better then you this time and I am sorry but you should not rely so heavily on those powers of yours!”

“Why not?! They got me out of plenty of situations before.”

“Think Renee! He’s working for Nox and should know all your tricks by now. The only reason you and I aren’t dead right now was because he had underestimated you!”

That got her to shut up. She’s never seen Natalie worked up so much before. Silence fell in the truck once more. They had never argued like this before. Every moment of silence hurt more than the previous. Quickly she learned that much like herself, Natalie was stubborn. It made sense for her to be, with her being so young and at the top of her field. Renee couldn’t help the little quirk to her lips after a minute. She also frustratingly learned that it was impossible to stay mad at this girl for long. With a deep breath she lowered her voice into something much softer.

“Nat you never even shot a gun before.”

“Then I will learn!” She stated defiantly.

“But you hate guns.”

“I hate the sound, but if I can use them to protect you, then I will.”

“You’d have to learn fast.”

“Then you will teach me.” Natalie said quietly and her stoic face broke into a small smile. Renee smiled and scooted over on the bench seat to sit next to Natalie. With her free arm Natalie wrapped Renee in a small hug. The apology went unspoken between both of them as Renee cuddled into the young woman’s shoulder.

* * *

October 18th, 1945

Natalie was already waiting for her in the forest after her shift. With a heave she slid the heavy pack off her shoulders and parked her bike. Attached to the bike was a long wide case that proved to be more cumbersome then originally planned. Natalie helped her lug the heavy equipment to their makeshift firing range.

“What is all of this stuff, Cherie?”

“War leftovers, it seems like people don’t like to keep dark reminders around so I was able to buy these under the table.”

With one last grunt of effort Renee placed the long case on their makeshift table. With a flick of a few latches the case flipped open to reveal two guns. A longer bolt action rifle and a small handgun. Natalie’s fingers traced down the wooden stock of the rifle and slowly she picked up the handgun.

“A MAS-36 and a MAB Model… D? I think is what the guy said.”

Natalie nodded and cocked back the slide of the handgun. It fit better in her smaller hands then Renee’s Luger. Renee busied herself setting up targets on trees. Natalie had done alright with her handgun the previous days, but the quick cycle of her submachine gun always proved a little too intense for the woman. She hoped as she set up more distant targets that a slower more accurate rifle would suit the girl better. On her way back she watched Natalie pull a little plastic container out of her pocket. The black rubber earplugs were shoved into her ears just as Renee grabbed two boxes of ammo from her bag.

“Let’s start with the pistol, you remember from yesterday?”

Natalie nodded and held the small gun in both of her hands. She outstretched her arms like she was taught and put some weight on her forward foot. She quickly loaded and cocked back the weapon with impressive accuracy. She took aim at the closes three targets and fired. There was a surprised shutter to the woman as the first blast sounded from the gun, but she quickly recovered and emptied the mag into the targets.

“How does that feel?” Renee called over her shoulder as she went to retrieve the targets.

“Much better! It felt less jumpy then yours, ma amour!”

“I can see…” Renee hummed as she inspected the targets. Each one had three little holes all grouped about an inch from center. “Let’s try the rifle, then.”

Somehow knowing Renee guided Natalie into shouldering the weapon correctly. She taught her how to slide back the bolt and use the iron sights.

“Alright Nat, this is going to kick a bit harder than mine. Like the pistol one pull of the trigger is one shot then you pull back the bolt to reload, got it?”

With a moment of hesitation Natalie nodded and brought the gun to aim down range. Renee’s heart did a little jump to see Natalie armed liked this. It was silly, but she couldn’t help but feel the new found adoration of this girl.

_Your girl is a hell of a badass…_

“Don’t I know it…” Renee mumbled under her breath, only to be cut off by a loud bang.

Natalie shook looking wide eyed at the weapon in her hands. A little smile slipped on her lips as she pulled back the bolt and a smoking cartage with flung to the ground. She re-aimed and shot again. The smile growing with every shot. Once empty Natalie set the rifle down on the bench. Her hands were shaking with the left over vibrations, but the smile was clear on her face.

“Oh Cherie! That is amazing! The power was exhilarating!”

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“Oui, I can work with this!” Natalie smiled wildly and ran her hands down the guns receiver. “I believe I have a few ideas to upgrade the current design!”

“Just don’t go too overboard we’re leaving tomorrow remember?” Renee said was she walked to grab the far target. She felt a proud smile come to her lips as all five shots were scattered only about three to four inches away from the center.

_Good shot too. Better watch out._

The voice said with a small chuckle and Renee couldn’t help but join along. 

“I think we might be able to do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can anyone guess the gun references for our girl Natalie? (I spent too long thinking about this and I don't even use this loadout in game like at all lol (Spitfire go burrrrrrr))


	17. If I am to say Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a week of training and prep done, the girls leave the village to confront the Assassin. First, they have a few boys to leave behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thank you all for all of the support and interaction to this fic. Lot of good guesses for Natalie's rifle, sadly I'm gonna have to tease you until Tuesday. :P With that have a good weekend and a good end to the season! (Who's excited for Fuse? me as a wattson main is ready to rain on everyone's parade lol)

October 19th, 1945

The morning was hectic. Renee already informed Marvin of her trip south and was on her way back to the office. She delivered the morning mail like always but as her bag emptied her stomach grew into more and more knots. Some was anticipation about finally being done with this, while the other knots contained anxiety about Natalie being beside her. She could not picture the woman no longer in her life anymore. She had to remind herself so many times that Natalie can take care of herself. She has her back and Renee chided herself to focus on herself for once. Face grim she rounded the corner to see commotion outside the office.

Elliot’s truck was parked outside with a short trailer attached to the tailgate. On the trailer something was well covered with a sheet and the odd shape confused Renee to what might be hiding under it. He wasn’t much of an outdoorsman so it must be a hell of a big delivery for someone in town. She past the truck and pulled her bike to a stop at the entrance of the garage. As she balanced on her foot she slid her goggles to sit on her scarf. With the tint gone her pale eyes adjusted to a lovely sight.

Natalie was waiting for her. The woman was sitting on a worktable with a suitcase and a familiar long case leaning on her knee. The weather was to be cold up in the mountains and Natalie seemed prepared with a fluffy orange and blue hooded coat balled up in her lap and fur lined boots on. She was chatting happily to Elliot and Marvin. The former seemingly enjoying her reaction to a story of his. Renee watched for a moment as she quietly set her bike aside. Marvin had pointed out a contradiction in Elliot’s story and Natalie failed to repress a giggle. They all looked so happy together that Renee couldn’t help but curse herself.

“I should just go alone. She doesn’t deserve to be dragged into this.” Renee whispered as she tightened her grip on the handles.

_She’d follow you…_

“I- I know.” Renee sighed and clicked down the kickstand.

_This is the path you chose. You made the choice to have connections to others. Their burden is also yours to bear._

“What if I’m not strong enough?”

The monotone harshness of the voice broke for a moment into a huffed laugh. It was soft and the smile was prevalent.

_Your burden is also theirs to bear. You don’t need to be alone anymore Renee._

Renee nodded to the voice. She doesn’t know what that particular version of herself had faced in her life, but the gentle way she spoke calmed the knots in her stomach. It was like she knew what she needed to hear at the moment. Natalie hopped to her feet as Renee approached the group.

“There you are Cherie! Elliot just told me some wonderful news! Lo-“

“Ah ah! Don’t spoil the surprise kid! Now aren’t you gonna hug your best friend in the world goodbye?” Elliot said with a grand flourish of his arms. Renee smirked as she approached with her arms crossed.

“You know what? Sure.”

Dumbstruck Elliot held his arms out wide and as he went to scoop up the short woman into a hug she dodged underneath him. He only embraced air as she slipped away. He spun with an obvious pout on his face that only grew as she wrapped her arms around Marvin’s waist. The tall man was a little awkward at the rare affection. He bent a little and lightly pressed on her shoulder blades. As Elliot was starting to throw a fit and Natalie was trying not to burst out laughing, Renee mumbled into the man’s blue uniform.

“Thanks, for everything Marv. You were the first to believe in me. I’ll never forget that.”

“Of course friend.” Marvin mumbled and lightly patted the woman’s back. “Don’t forget! Your vacation ends next week and we will need you back here!”

“Wouldn’t miss it.” Renee smiled and let go of the man. There was worry to his face but he smiled along with her.

“Well that’s just rich!” Elliot pouted and puffed out his cheeks. “After all I did to get your surprise here! I even had to tie the damn thing down myself!”

“Oh is that the thing strapped to your trailer?”

“Oui, apparently it’s a gift from Mademoiselle Andrade!”

A dark cloud seemed to form above Renee’s head as they went outside to see what was under the sheet. “A gift from Loba, great.” Renee rolled her eyes.

“Oh come Renee, she cannot be that bad. Especially since she offered so much help already.”

“Nat, she’s just doing this to woo you.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, Blasey.” Elliot called over his shoulder as he climbed the trailer. He grabbed to handfuls of canvas and winked to the woman. “She might be after you now with this one.”

Renee’s jaw dropped as the canvas fell to reveal a shiny brand new motorcycle. The sleek machine was almost double the size of her bike, not even including the matching attached sidecar. Renee ran up to the trailer as Elliot wheeled the cycle down the ramp. Though bulky looking with the sidecar, Renee saw the swift potential of the bike on its own. The drab green and white star on the gas tank gave away the foreign make.

“It’s American.” Renee dumbly stated as she scrambled into the rider’s spot.

“Yeah yeah, she said it was like an Indian… 8-something. Now you gonna start her up or what?!”

Renee nodded and her eyes narrowed at the controls. They weren’t much different from her own bike, but as the engine rumbled to life Renee felt herself shake with the vibrations. For a worried second she glanced towards Natalie who had her hands clapped to her ears. The Frenchwoman meekly smiled and gave and awkward thumbs up.

Quickly she routed in the sidecar and found a patted helmet. It was white with a red stripe running down the middle and a set of goggles wrapped around the brow. She tossed the helmet to the girl in hopes the patting might reduce the noise for her. Once on Natalie seemed to relax and jump into the side car. She dug towards the bottom for a second and pulled out a matching helmet for Renee, though this one was black and purple.

“Why don’t you two go for a test drive?” Elliot shouted over the roar of the engine. “Marv and I will grab your things!”

Renee nodded and slowly started to release the clutch. The vehicle’s power was everything compared to her puny bike. Even with a small twist of the throttle they were off. As they picked up speed she could make out laughing coming from her companion beside her. They didn’t leave the village and those who saw waved at the pair riding down the road. Renee was able to adapt to the new cycle quickly and was effortlessly shifting gears by the time they had made it back. Elliot was waiting for them along with their things. He helped the woman pack the bike and as he was about to leave a hand gripped his wrist.

“Oh gonna make fun of me again?”

“Elliot, please.”

“I just feel like you just don’t aprecha- apprece- value what I do for you-“

He was cut off as thin arms wrapped around his neck. Renee pulled him into a tight hug as she did with Marvin. Though unlike Marvin, Elliot was quicker to return the affection. He held tight around her lower back and sunk his chin into her shoulder.

“Just please get back to us safe.”

“I will.” Renee said and twisted her head to do the unexpected. A small kiss was pressed into his bearded cheek. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

After a beat Elliot made an overdramatic groan and playfully shoved her toward the bike. “I don’t know if I like this new soft Renee. Creeps a fella out. Hey Paquette! You got this from here understand?” He yelled to the woman.

“With pleasure, Monsieur!” Natalie cheered from the bike and gave a mock salute.

Renee rolled her eyes and mounted the bike. Together they waved goodbye and rode out of town. Once out of the village Renee reveled in the speed she was able to obtain on the bike. She was having so much fun she almost didn’t notice the little tap to her arm. She quickly pulled over at Natalie’s behest. She shut the roaring engine off as Natalie swung out of her seat and ran to the edge of the road. The woman returned a moment later carrying something in her hands. Renee couldn’t help but smile as she saw what Natalie had gotten. Two sprigs of lavender. The last blooms of the season curled into her palm.

“For good luck!” Natalie said as she hopped back into her seat.

“Good thinking, hey…”

Natalie’s gaze snapped up to the older woman’s at the call. Renee bent down to capture her lips in a burning kiss that took Natalie’s breath from her. Luckily Renee’s words always seemed to spark new life into her.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” Natalie blushed at the serious look Renee gave her.

“Ready to go get this bastard?”

“I bet you I’ll take him out first.” She boasted.

“Oh? And what do I get if I win?”

“Hmmm, how dose chocolate soufflé sound? I know a café that makes them perfectly!”

“You’re so on. But what do you want if you somehow win?”

“Nothing much!” Natalie smiled mischievously. “Just you in my bed again should suffice.”

“As someone who acts so proper all the time, you sure do have a way with words...”

“Would you rather I said I’d like to fuck you again?”

“Er-“ Renee coughed out a blush. “I think I got your point. Let’s just get going.”

Natalie laughed as Renee started the engine. Together they left the village and headed south. For hours they traveled and slowly climbed into higher elevation. Neither of them knew what lay atop the mountain. Only that it will either be their salvation or demise. The creature that lays in wait there knows what’s coming. It know what it must do, and do it, it will.


	18. Winter's Hymn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They had made it to the Monastery. The snow whistles from outside and within the abandon corridors a Devil waits for its prey to arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys! Quick update: So the schedule for this work is changing due to the fact that my life has been getting busier lately. I will only be posting Tuesdays for now. (So now you must wait a week for the cliffhangers Muhahahaha) It's starting to ramp up guys so get ready! Also I will be playing more apex as well since the new season started so if you want a dumb Wattson on your team my tag is Fallsend on pc. See you in the ring! Without farther a du chapter 18.

October 20th, 1945

The bite of cold nipped at the tip of her nose as they rode up the narrow mountain path. Renee adjusted her scarf to cover her face as a few snowflakes whizzed by them. Snow had slowly began to encroach on the roadway as they climbed higher. Glancing to her side she saw Natalie bundled up in her fluffy coat. She was resting most of the morning adorably bundled up in the side car, but as they approached the abandoned monastery Natalie had armed herself. She glanced around nervously as her rifle lay in her lap.

The rifle was heavily modified with the entire front grip being replaced with metal and a concerning amount of wires leading back to the bolt. The top was fixed some sort of scope with more wires poking out of it. Renee herself had already slung her MAS onto her back in preparation. As they rounded the bend their destination came into sight. The stone building was barely standing near the edge of a cliff. The peaked shape the only thing to define it as once Christian in nature. Its main front glass window smashed and empty. Outside the main church were a few smaller buildings and half buried in snow was a black car.

_He’s there… Be on your guard…_

Renee tightened her grip on the handle bars. She cut the engine as they approached and quietly rolled into the courtyard with a few smaller buildings. Renee tossed her helmet into the side car while Natalie quickly switched to her earplugs and a blue knitted cap. Tapping her shoulder Renee guided Natalie’s attention to the closest abandoned building. There was a faint mechanical hum and low static coming from the broken window. Natalie nodded and tossed her rifle over her shoulder, opting for her pistol instead. Pathing their way, Renee lead them along side of the building. The door was hanging open. The single intact hinge the only thing from it falling to the floor. Renee shouldered her submachine gun as she carefully pushed the door open. Behind her Natalie was crouched below the broken window peeking into the room.

Inside lay the remnants of a control room. At some point this was an outpost for someone during the war. A generator hummed to the back and stacked on a desk were a set of radios. It seems as though someone left in a hurry as the attached headphones were buzzing with static and hanging off the table by their cord. Feeling somewhat secure Renee made her way inside with Natalie right on her heels. Outside the wind was picking up and snow was falling heavier.

“He was here.” Renee stated with a mix of frustration and worry in her voice.

“Then it’s safe to assume that he is somewhere in the compound still, It would be suicide to flee with the weather picking up. Especially on foot.”

Renee nodded at her logic and made her way to inspect the desk. On it lay a mess of old bloodied bandages and empty tins of food. Brushing aside some of the trash Renee found a notebook. The writing was scrawled but legible as notes on the communications between the assassin and Nox. Sadly as Renee skimmed the book, there was nothing to indicate the doctor's location.

“Renee, I think we should check the other buildings. I wish to be rid of this place as soon as possible.”

“Understood, let’s try the next.”

Together the pair checked the remaining two buildings with no luck in finding the recovering assassin. All that remained of the compound was the dilapidated church. Its tall windows loomed over them as they snuck around it. Ghostly noises whispered through broken panes of glass. The front door would be too obvious an entrance and Renee tugged at Natalie’s jacket to get her attention. Renee backed up against the wall under a broken window. The cold dark stone sapped the heat from her back as she clasped her fingers together and held out the step for the young woman. Holstering her pistol Natalie stepped into her hand understanding the plan. She reached up and with Renee’s help scrambled onto the window frame. She took a moment to adjust herself to avoid being sliced up by the glass, before reaching an arm down to her girlfriend.

“Think you can make it, Cherie?” Natalie whisper-yelled down to her.

“Yeah… Yeah as long as you can pull me up.”

Natalie braced herself in the frame and nodded. Renee backed up and got as much as a running start as she could in the snow. Her boots made contact with the stone as she ran a few steps up the wall. Just as she lost momentum her arm reached out to grab Natalie’s. Their hands found each other’s and with a grunt of effort and more using her weight to her advantage, Natalie tumbled backwards into the church, dragging Renee with her. They fell into the church with less grace then planned, but quietly enough. As they orientated themselves they found they fell into one of the aisles that flanked the main worshiping area. The pews were shifted and some lay at odd angles as if a tornado had made its way through the building. Above, cracked and deteriorating frescos of angelic faces watched the woman move around the room. Other than the wind whipping and the building shifting under its force, it was eerily silent. Even the voices were oddly quiet as if they themselves were waiting for the devil to appear.

“I don’t like this Renee.”

“Yeah, it’s too quiet.”

A small clink of metal was enough to make both woman jump. Both of them turned to the noise between two of the pews to see a little field mouse scurry past an empty brass casing. Natalie let out a huffed sigh and flashed a little smile to the older woman.

“Guess we’re both a bit on edge.”

“Yeah, even the voices aren’t too sure about this.”

“That’s too bad…” A low familiar masculine voice echoed around the room. “It would be a shame if you die too easily…”

Immediately Renee found Natalie pressed to her back, her gun drawn and searching for the origin of the voice. Renee shouldered her own weapon and scanned the area. The voices perked up again with warnings of someone aiming at them, and how exposed they were standing in the center of the hall. Movement caught her eye near the alter.

“Good… good! I can kill you both today.” The low voice continued to echo.

Renee found the origin of the voice as its speaker jumped atop the alter. The man was thinner than before. His stomach bandaged below his open blazer and his skin yellowing from some sort of infection. He looked half alive as he spun his SIG to aim at the women. Renee grabbed Natalie and together they dived behind the wooden pews for cover. A hair of bullets followed them, luckily being absorbed by the barricade for the moment. The wood splinted above them and Natalie readied her rifle.

“Can you get his attention?”

“Sure thing, don’t miss.” Renee said before placing one final kiss to Natalie’s cheek.

Channeling the void Renee slipped away to the other side of the aisle. Gunfire followed her there as she dove back into cover. As she phased back in and shot a burst of her own over her cover a weird noise sounded. The room flashed with blue light as a familiar bang sounded from Natalie’s side. She spotted the woman a few yards away with a tight frown to her lips. She quickly reloaded the bolt and Renee watched as electricity funneled from her left hand into her weapon, seemingly charging the shot. Another blue shot sounded and the church was quite again.

“You get him, Nat?!”

“Non… Merde! The bastard slipped away in time!”

“Where’d he go?”

_Upstairs, listen…_

Renee did as she was told, the ringing of the powerful weapons fading for the moment. Underneath the whistling of wind and shuddering of stone was the sound of light steps on wooden stairs, quickly climbing them.

“Nat! Upstairs!” Renee shouted and ran to the spiral staircase in the front of the church.

Together they ran up the stairs, Renee leading and Natalie following close behind. Just as she climbed the last steps a voice warned her of danger. She backpedaled a tad slow as a bullet grazed her forearm. She and Nat hid in the staircase as more covering fire plinked off the stone walls and buried itself into the wooden balcony.

“Shit!” Renee hissed between her teeth as her hand clamped down on the fresh wound. Natalie was already pulling a rag out of her pocket at the sight.

“Move your hand ma amour. Did you at least see where he was?”

“Yeah-ah! He was towards the end, not a lot of cover.”

The shots ended and the moment was quiet again. Natalie peeked out and motioned Renee to follow. They cautiously stepped onto the balcony. They spotted the assassin on the other side. He was facing them, but the weapon must have clicked empty not too long ago as he no longer had it. Instead he had a small remote with a singular button.

“As fun as it is to play cat and mouse with you ladies…” He sneered looking less and less human every moment. “I believe our dance must come to an end.”

Renee raised her gun and fired a short burst towards him. Most went wide, but blood sprayed from his thigh and waist from a few impacting. Through the pain he clicked the button and a hundred voiced flooded her mind of danger from below. There her gaze settled on the mass of turned over pews they had just been using as cover. Deep in the shadows she saw a blinking red light turn green.

She would have stood there dumbstruck as the bomb went off if not for the hand that reached out to clutch at the center of her chest. It all happened so fast yet in slow motion at the same time. The room erupted into a bright light. She was pulled down behind the balcony wall and into Natalie’s embrace. Wood, glass, and metal shrapnel flew everywhere. Yet all she could feel was the warmth of Natalie’s jacket as she held her. Her right arm was a vice around waist as Renee scrambled closer. Her head was tucked protectively under Natalie’s chin as she curled around her. Renee looked up to see the young woman’s eyes twisted shut as the blast went off. Then Renee’s world came to a halt as Natalie shuttered forward and her eyes shot open. They were dilated wide as her ears rang. Natalie coughed, blood splattering on her arm. The remaining dripped down the corners of her mouth. She heard nothing but the ringing as Renee franticly untangled herself.

The electric blue of her eyes was already dimming by the time Renee slid her away from the balcony wall. The sight brought her to tears as she saw a piece of metal rebar stuck several inches into Natalie’s back. She screamed her name trying to get her attention. Her breathing was unsteady and shallow by the time Natalie’s gaze finally lulled over to Renee. The peachy freckled skin that she loved was already pale and clammy by the time the ringing finally cleared

“Nat! Natalie! We need to get you out of here!”

“Non.. He’s still alive, you need to…”

“I need to get you out of here first!”

“No! he’ll just…” Natalie winced and more blood coughed up past her lips. “Pick us off. Please Renee…”

“Nat, I can’t.” Renee said between tears.

“Then be quick!” Natalie said while grinding her teeth. She attempted to force a smile. “I’ll be fine if I rest a moment, I promise…”

_He’s escaping…_

_You’re just going to let him get away with this?_

_With what he did to her?_

Renee helped prop Natalie near the stairwell. Anger, more anger then she had ever felt brewed inside her. Once she left her she could feel the void energy start to crackle down her fingers. Her bun had come loose in the explosion and she could vaguely feel the wind start to whip her dark hair around her head as she kicked the front door open. There she saw him lurching away in the snow. Somehow he managed to survive the explosion and was already on his feet. It brought another layer to her anger as she stared at him from the steps of the church.

“Why won’t you fucking die already?!” She shouted over the wind.

He stopped at the new noise and turned with a cocky smile. “I can say the same about you. What happened to your girly? Her body already cold in there?”

Renee’s hands trembled. She threw down her guns and pulled out the double sided knife. She wanted his death to be a painful one. She didn’t care anymore as she approached him. Her eyes were glowing white and for a moment true fear crossed the man’s face. She lunged, expertly slipping into the void to avoid a hidden knife he pulled out from his blazer. He was surprisingly fast though and seemed to be able to track or predict her movements in the void. Steel clashed and blood was drawn. Small nicks turned into long cuts as the battle raged on. Renee felt her head throb as she phased back in only to be countered and shoved away. Her breaths came out in quick puffs of steam as she eyed him. He wasn’t doing much better, his body shifting awkwardly as if it was falling apart from the inside. She knew where to strike, she just needed an opening. She brought the knife up to her chin as he lunged forward.

_Shift left!_

The voice called and she answered shifting her weight to her left foot. At the same time a shot of blue electricity whizzed by her ear and embedded itself directly into the man’s injured shoulder. It gave her the opening she was looking for as she plunged the knife deep into his chest. With her momentum she tackled him to the ground. Above him she pulled the knife out and as she was about to stab again, something stopped her. Below the man was no longer drawing breath, but she felt the anger in her build.

_He hurt her-He wanted to kill you-Take your anger out on him-Let it out-let him feel it- Just like before…_

The voices rambled in her head until the one clear familiar one broke through.

_You made a promise…_

“I- I promised I wouldn’t be a monster.”

She threw the weapon aside as if it were made of hot steel. Quickly she rose to her feet to look back to the church. In the shattered front window leaned an injured Natalie. Her gun fell unceremoniously to the side and with a satisfied smile, Renee watch the woman faint and fall out the window.

When Renee rushed to her side, Natalie was already unconscious in the snow. Luckily there was enough fresh snow to break her fall. The wind picked up even more as Renee shifted the woman’s head into her lap. The snow around them started to seep red as Renee cradled the blonde in her arms.

“No… you can’t go. Not like this, not like this, not like this…” Renee sobbed into her hair.

Though blurred by snow three figures approached her. She could barely make out what they were even saying with all of the rambling in her head. That is until one stepped forward. Her voice was deep and clear as she spoke. Her dark skin contrasted with the blizzard as she leaned closer.

“-ee Blasey? I’m Agent Williams of the American C.I.A. I ask you to come with us peacefully.”

“And just why the fuck are you here?” Renee snarled and protectively curled Natalie’s head closer to her chest.

“Our mutual friend mentioned something to me.” The woman smiled, the muscles of her cheeks straining at the seemingly unfamiliar motion. “We seem to have beef with the same guy and I could use your help to hunt him down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to those who guessed sentinel, ding ding ding!


	19. Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its cold when she awakes, and the world is unfamiliar to her. Comforting words are scares, but she is determined to help. No matter the cost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *announcer voice* let get ready for some annnnnngst! Hey guys! hope ya'll are still interested in this work as we're getting towards the end here. Also terrible accents are a comin', I'm sorry... :P Have a happy valentines day, love you guys <3

????? ??, 1945

When she awoke all she felt was pain. The mechanical beep of monitors and the slow drip of an I.V. were the only sounds in the dim room. The thin blanket was scratchy on her pale skin as she lifted her hand to rub her eyes. She had been in this situation before. Though at the time her father was right beside her when she woke up from the electrical explosion. Glancing around the cold gray room there was no one. As she moved to sit up, pain radiated from her mid back. The woman gritted her teeth in a hiss of pain and fell back into the bed. Her thin blonde hair whipping around her cheeks as she hit the pillow. Vaguely she could here mumbling coming from outside the room. Low voices spoke in serious tones.

_Alright, One step at a time, oui?_

Gathering her strength Natalie threw the thin blanket off herself. The bandages wrapped around her midsection were concerning, but at the very least freshly changed. She tugged on the light blue scrubs she had on to hide the wound. She detached the wires connecting her to the beeping machine only to hear a dull noise sound from it. With a deep breath and a moment to hype herself up, Natalie braced herself on the edges of the bed and sat up. The intense pain was enough to knock the breath out of her and by the time she swung her legs over the side she was already starting to sweat. She used the rolling I.V. rack as a staff to hoist herself onto her feet. Walking or in this case shuffling proved easier then sitting, though it did little to comfort her as her socked feet hit icy concreate. Every step got easier as the pain was reduced to a dull background ache. As she went to the door she noticed something on the wall.

A mirror.

It was shattered.

A dozen versions of herself looked back at her as she traced the point of impact. It was off center about where her right shoulder would normally be when looking straight on. In the background she noticed her now empty bed. She would’ve spent more time inspecting the mirror if not for a familiar voice muffled through the door.

“-can take that side, I can slip in here.”

_Renee!_

With a small grunt of effort Natalie heaved open the door. She was in some sort of bunker by the looks of it. No windows and plenty of armed guards patrolling around. They seemed too busy to care as she moved around the corner and entered into what seemed to be a busy war room. A woman was hunched over a map on a table. She was tall and intimidating. Her black suit held an air of professionalism and as she spoke to the other woman inspecting the map. Natalie paused at the sight of her girlfriend. Her eyes were dark with lack of sleep. A cigarette hung from a permanent scowl on her lips. On the table there was an ashtray that was in desperate need to be cleaned. The others must have alerted Renee to her presents as Natalie noticed her eyes cloud over for a moment. Her head snapped up alerting the dark skinned woman to her side.

Natalie smiled happy to see her love had made it out safe. Renee on the other hand only frowned and removed the cigarette to clench between her fingers as she went back to inspecting the map. The taller woman called for someone over her shoulder.

“Hey Doc, your patent’s up and about.”

“Aye ‘ear yuh!”

Confused at the cold dismissive attitude Renee was giving her, Natalie didn’t even realize she was being guided down the hall until she stepped back into her room. She finally noticed the person, that was referred to as Doc, was helping her sit back down when another sharp pain traveled up her spine.

“Ay easy now! You’ve only just begun to heal.”

The woman had a thick accent and dark colored skin. Her white lab coat had a coldness to it that contrasted with playful red buns of hair on top of her head. Her hands went to support her as she carefully laid her back down. The touch was warm and the gentle way the woman spoke was the only thing of comfort she had felt since waking up.

“It’s gonna be alright, yuh just need to rest now.”

“Wait, you must tell me what is happening? Where am I? Who was that woman with Renee? I am, very confused.”

“That a lot of good questions, don’t worry.” Doc spoke as she sat down on the edge of the bed. She patted a warm hand down on top of Natalie’s. “I’ll stay for a lil’ while.”

“Thank you, forgive my rudeness. I didn’t catch your name?” Natalie said while reflexively hooking her thumb around the woman's hand. The doctor's smile brightened as she continued the touch.

“Doctor Ajay Che, most folks just refer to me as Doc around here though.”

“Thank you then Dr. Che, I assume you were the one to patch me up?”

“Yeah, yuh welcome. Thank god ‘nita, er Agent Williams, found you two in time. To be honest you were in rough shape. Almost lost yuh in the ride over, had to dump almost four pints of blood back into yuh by the end of it.”

“I remember the explosion…”

“Yuh were lucky, the rod that was in your back missed your spine by a quarter of an inch. If it hit it, well I’m sure you wouldn’t have been able to walk down that hallway.”

“I’m sorry I was such a nuisance.”

“Ah don’t yuh start with that! My pleasure to help someone in need. I only tell you this so yuh can understand why yuh woman is acting funny.”

“My – Woman?” Natalie cocked an eyebrow. Ajay smiled this big mischievous smirk. The serious demeanor fell for the moment and Natalie realized how young the doctor was. She couldn’t have been more than a few years ahead of her.

“Don’t cha’ act all coy! You got dat’ scary chick wrapped around yuh finger don’t cha?”

“You’re referring to Renee?” Natalie said slowly.

“Yeah! The second they hauled your ass onto the ‘chopter she refused to leave yuh side. Got in my way a few times, but I think it was sweet. Kind of like a guard dog protectin’ its _owner_.” She giggled. “Yuh got ‘er on a hell of a short leash if that’s the case.”

Natalie blushed at the mental images that flashed before her. Ajay laughed and a small smile finally appeared on the blonde’s lips.

“I’m not sure about that.” She said as the hard won smile slipped. “She seemed pretty angry with me.”

“Nah, I think she just might be blamin’ herself about what happened. Seen it plenty of times during the war.”

“She does have a bad habit of self-loathing, I’ve noticed.” Natalie said and glanced over to the mirror connecting the dots.

“Yeah…” Ajay sighed and followed her gaze. “The best thing you could do right now is give her some space, let her work out her issues on her own for a bit while you heal.

“They were planning something when I walked in.”

“Not too sure of the details myself, but ‘Nita’s been hunting down the doctor since the start of the war. Apparently he’s American and went to join the Nazis to have freer reign over his experiments.”

“I have heard how horrible they were.”

Ajay nodded solemnly. “They found out he’s hidin’ somewhere in East Germany, out of ‘Nita’s jurisdiction so she’s working with your girl to flush him out.” 

“I can help!” Natalie said quickly and made a move to sit back up. She was easily pushed back down by Ajay’s firm hand.

“Yuh can help by letting your body heal! Ain’t gonna do any good with you movin’ about before yuh ready.”

Natalie huffed like a spoiled child as her head hit the pillow again. She crossed her arms as Ajay stood up.

“I already ‘ad to keep shooin yuh woman out of your bed while you were asleep, I ain’t gonna babysit both of yuh. I’ll let Agent Williams know you’re awake and willing to help. Maybe she can think of somethin’ to keep you occupied.”

“Thank you, I would appreciate it.” Natalie stated sternly.

“No wonder the two of you are close, yuh both are more stubborn then bulls.” Ajay sighed and walked out of the room to leave Natalie alone with her thoughts.

It was quiet during her recovery over the next day or so. Renee never once came to see her, yet the musty smell of cigarettes would often linger in her nose when she woke up in the morning. Agent Williams came to see her not too long after Ajay had rewrapped her wound for the day. The agent was just as intimidating to speak to as before, but Natalie held firm where she sat, insisting for her to use her skills to help in the fight against the Doctor. It took a while and with the conversation bordering on shouting, the older woman sighed and stepped out.

_Merde, there goes my chance… Why must I always have to prove to everyone I can do this? How much more do I need to go through to be taken seriously?_

Natalie huffed as she was left alone again. Her hands clasped together in her lap as blonde hair danced over freckled cheeks.

_Is it because of my youth? No, Dr. Che is only a few years older than me. Maturity then, I have often been called juvenile in the way I portray myself, but Renee thought of me as more mature for my age…_

Natalie sighed out a frown at the thought. Renee was the last person she wanted on her mind right now. Slowly she inched up her knees to her chin and hugged them. Her chest hurt at the thought of the dark haired woman. It hurt her to see her so distant, yet it also hurt to see her struggling as well. She couldn’t tell which one is worse. She buried her face into her knees, no longer interested in seeing the dull gray walls of her hospital room.

_Oh Papa, you must be so worried. I hope you’re doing well. Maybe it was a mistake to get involved like this…_

The thud of her door opening and closing jerked her attention up. The word was already tumbling out of her mouth by the time she saw who entered.

“Renee!-“

“Nope, just went to grab these.” Agent Williams stated with a cocked eyebrow.

In her arm was a set of rolled up blue prints. Natalie visibly deflated as she realized it was she who had walked through the door. Anita wheeled over a side table to the bed and set the blue prints down atop it. They were detailed floor schematics of some sort of facility. Natalie already pawed at one of them before they could even fully settle onto the table top. She dragged the sheet to her lap and started to examine it.

“Did a background check, turns out you know a few things about electrical circuits?”

“Oui…” Natalie mumbled paying the conversation little attention as she pondered the map. “Completed my degree before I turned 18…”

“Alright then Kid, I think I found something for you then.”

“What do you need to know?”

Anita smirked and pointed to the map sitting in her lap. “I need a total blackout of this building.”

“Oh, that’s all?” Natalie huffed with a bit of sarcasm hinting in her voice as she regarded the other papers. “Even with a quick glance even I can tell that is much easier said than done, non? Multiple backup generators on varying floors, power that is rerouted and shared between floors, even a dedicated service floor that is sealed like a vault!”

“I just need it down for five minutes.”

“Then the easiest way would be to disconnect the power feeding the facility.”

“Can’t cause a city wide blackout with Stalin’s mustache tickling down my neck. I need to take it down from the building itself.”

“Then I guess the easiest way would to access the service floor. It is the major routing area for the facility.”

“You mentioned it was like a vault.”

Natalie nodded and outlined the think walls and doors of a particular area of the map. “In case of an explosion the room is reinforced.”

“Guarded?”

“Even I can’t read that from blue prints, Agent…” Natalie smirked coyly.

“Would it be, I mean?” Anita grumbled through gritted teeth.

“Most likely not, if so, very lightly. I suppose that if one compensated with so many backups they wouldn’t expect anyone to after their power.”

“Then that’s our plan.”

“Even if you could get someone into the main service floor, your soldiers would probably blow themselves to bits messing with that much amperage while untrained.” Natalie stated firmly and clenched her left hand into a fist.

Anita thought for a moment. Her shoulder slumped as she rested her arms on her legs. A piercing gaze rose up to the young woman as she seemed to be weighing something in her mind. A tough palm threaded through curly brown hair as she gave a little hiccup of a laugh.

“Oh, Loba’s gonna kill me for this.”

“What do you mean, Agent?”

“You really want to help right? Miss. Paquette?”

“I-I do! He had hurt her so bad along with countless others. He needs to be prosecuted and justice needs to be upheld.”

“Okay, then you’re on the team. Figure out an entry point for yourself and a few men to take down the power.”

Natalie nodded as the tall woman stood to her feet. She was already franticly busing herself as Anita made her way out. Before she left she couldn’t help but feel a small smile to her lips. The fire of determination was so bright in this young woman’s eyes as she looked back once more. It reminded her of herself from not too long ago. She just hopes she didn’t just end up signing her death warrant as well.


	20. Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning has come. Today is the day they leave to capture Nox and finally put this whole thing behind them. Hopefully their love doesn't fall with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Lots of POV switching in this chapter so be on the look out for those line breaks! Hope everyone had a nice valentines day! If not don't worry, I love you! <3 Thanks for the support of this work. Don't forget to stay safe and warm this week :D

November 3rd, 1945

The day was finally here. The early morning frost was crisp as Renee walked on the tarmac. The sun had yet to peek over the horizon but the ambient light was growing, signaling its arrival. Her fingers twitched at her side. It wasn’t due to the chilly air as she fumbled to light another cigarette. She hated the habit she formed, it stunk and was still relatively unpleasant to taste but the way it calmed the new shake to her hands is something she’s struggled to live without.

“Blasey! Look alive!”

The heavy call of the woman snagged her attention away from the end of the burning tip of the cigarette. Agent Williams was waving at her near a large cargo plane. The drab green hull had its white American star painted over and its twin prop engines were starting to turn. Renee groaned as she gave one final puff of the cigarette and stomped it out before approaching the woman.

“You sure are chipper this morning.” Renee grumbled.

“What can I say? I’m this close to finally dragging that bastard back to the states.”

“Right,” Renee started as they approached the plane. A dozen other men were busy prepping for takeoff. They were to drop from above close to the facility, infiltrate and drag the doctor out by his ankles if need be. “Did you ever figure out a plan for the disabling the lights?”

“Hah no but-“ Anita chuckled as they ducked inside the hull. “She did.”

Renee looked to where Anita lazily pointed to see Natalie fidgeting with a rubber oxygen mask that hung loosely around her neck. She was already equipped with a flight suit and similar jump harness to her own. Next to her was something Renee had never seen before. It looked like some sort of sci fi robot that she had seen between the pages of a ten cent comic. Its little legs were folded so politely next to its creator.

Natalie’s attention was dragged to the woman as they entered. Her eyes lingered on Renee as she gave a short nod then refocused her attention to fuss with the copper coils of wire stuck to the top of the machine. Renee ground her teeth as she tugged Anita to the side.

“What the fuck are you thinking bringing her with us?!” Renee whisper yelled up to the woman. Her hand balled into fist in her shirt.

“Easy now.” Anita growled back and let her taller stature and stronger physic speak for itself. “I call the shots around here, remember that Blasey. If I say she goes, she goes.”

“But-“

“Don’t question me solider! We need her knowledge to pull this off, I understand you’re protective of that girl so focus on your own fucking mission. The quicker you detain the doctor the sooner you get her out of danger.”

“I don’t like this.” Renee huffed and let go of the woman with a small shove.

“You know what, I don’t give a rats ass if you like it or not. You will get the doctor, end of story.”

“You’re just going to send her in alone?”

“Not at all.” Anita’s stern face broke into a small smirk. “She’s got the best guys I know going with her.”

* * *

Take off went well. As they approached cruising altitude the morning sun finally greeted them. They had to fly towards the top of service ceiling to avoid the prying eyes of the Russians. The pressure made the young woman’s ears pop as she fitted the mask to her face. It wasn’t technically needed at this height, but being her first time in a plane the thin air was already starting to get to her. Every jolt of turbulence shook the woman and she was quickly finding out she wasn’t an easy flyer.

_Maybe it won’t be that hard for me to jump out of this death trap after all…_

Another round of turbulence had her arms fly up to wrap around her head. Luckily her stomach decided not to want much breakfast that morning as she felt a wave of nausea wash over her. A hand had found its way onto her back. It rubbed in small circles as she felt the nausea pass.

“That’s okay, Braddah. Deep breaths now.” A deep gentle voice cooed to her.

It was Mokoa, one of the men assigned to assist her infiltration to power down the facility. She twisted her head to look up at him. His big square jaw held such a warm smile. The straps to his helmet not able to contain it for the moment as they hung loosely along his cheeks.

“Merci, I think I feel a bit better now.”

“No problem! I was like that too during basic.” The large man said with a light pat to the woman’s shoulder.

“She’s already doin’ better than some of those boys! Ain’t that right, mate?” The other man close to her spoke.

He was older and had a distinct Australian accent. Anita had told her that he was some sort of explosives expert and could get her into the reinforced service floor if need be. He was loud, in fact as Mokoa laughed, Natalie determined they were both very loud. Her heart sank as she longed for the quiet subtle companionship of Renee. They still haven’t spoken, in fact them running into each other that morning was the first time they’ve seen each other in days. She leaned forward and rested her arms on her legs. One of her hands went to tug at the exposed hair peeking out from under her flight hood.

_Dose she no longer care about me? How much space dose she need? Is it still too early to reach out?_

“You aright, Bruddah?”

“Oui, just thinking.”

“Anything Ol’ Wally could help you with?” Walter said next to her.

“I’m afraid not, it has little to do with the mission.”

“This ain’t me first rodeo, mate. I know that look, kid. I’d grab ya a coldie if I could.”

“I do not follow.” Natalie said and sat up to better look at the rough man.

“It’s a guy ain’t it? By the looks of it, he broke your bloody heart.”

“You are quite wrong monsieur.” Natalie stated firmly and clenched her fists in her lap.

“Nah, I don’t think I am! Usually I mind my own beeswax, but this I’d bet my other eye on!”

“Alright I think that’s enough, Bruddah!”

“It’s not a man…” Natalie stated quietly. There was a pause as the air quieted at the soft voice.

“Er, repeat that mate?”

“You are incorrect, my heart was broken by a woman.” Natalie said a little louder.

There was another pause then Walter broke out into a rough laugh. “Then I guess I owe you me other eye! A woman huh? Don’t worry, kid. You’re in good company ain’t that right Mokoa?”

“In a way... You don’t have to go into it if you don’t want to, but I know a bit about heartbreak myself.”

“Oh!” Natalie exclaimed with blush peeking over the rubber mask. “That’s very sweet of you both, thank you. She asked for some space and while I am happy to give it to her, it has been quite a while now and I don’t know if I should reach out or keep at a distance.”

“Hmmm that’s a tough one.” Mokoa hummed and sat back holding his chin between his fingers.

“Well _I_ think you should talk to her.” Walter said while folding his arms confidently.

“You do? What if she gets mad?”

“What if she doesn’t? You’ll never know unless you try, mate. If you want something you gotta be the one to grab the horns and take it!”

“She also may be struggling to figure out how to approach you as well.” Mokoa added with a snap of his fingers.

“I see! That makes a lot of sense.”

“At the very least go an’ talk to her and see where she’s at.” Walter smiled and rested his hand on her shoulder.

“Oui! I will.” Natalie said with an excited smile and jumped to her feet. She was already skipping away by the time Walter looked over to Mokoa and shrugged, confused.

* * *

Renee was watching the green land below her slip by as she peered out the window. Her hands were already shaking for another cigarette. The sun had come up a few hours ago and they were approaching the drop location soon.

_To your right, she’s coming…_

Turning with the voice's guidance she saw Natalie walk to stand next to her. She said nothing and looked out widow as well. It was an awkward silence as they stood there. Renee was confused, she expected Natalie to be angry at her for how she’s pushed her away, and she at least felt like she deserved to have anger thrown at her. The silence proved to be a more proper punishment as the seconds ticked by. Renee couldn’t stand it and broke the tension between them.

“How did your recovery go?”

“Well. Dr. Che said my youth aided in speed.”

“Good.”

“And you?”

“My wounds weren’t bad.”

“Are you angry at me?” Natalie mumbled.

“Angry? Why would I be angry at you!?” Renee quickly said back. “You should be the one mad at me.”

“I’m not.”

“Even though I’ve been trying to push you away?”

“You needed space.” Natalie shrugged. “I can understand that.”

“I just wanted to protect you.”

“You’re going about it the wrong way.”

“What are you talking about, you shouldn’t even be here! Nat, we’re about to jump out of a plane behind enemy lines to perform a dangerous mission!”

“You’ve only been concerned about my physical safety so much so you’ve forgotten the most important part.”

“What’s that?”

“My own free fucking will, Renee. I chose to be here and you aren’t my mother. You assumed I wouldn’t want to continue to help after I was hurt. You always jump too quickly to conclusions I’ve noticed.” As quickly as the anger came from Natalie her voice hitched and softened almost to a whisper. “As for you pushing me away, I get you needed space. You needed time to process the next few steps, I understand that, but it hurt me so much not to see your face when I woke up.”

Tears were threatening to fall from the engineer’s eyes as she continued to look out the window. Hesitantly after a moment, Renee reached out and slipped her hand into the younger woman’s.

“I’m- sorry, I’ve been selfish. I think I see that now. When you went down, I blamed myself for ever dragging you into this, I never realized you wanted this as much as I do.”

“I do.” Natalie sniffed and laced her fingers with Renee. “More than ever.”

* * *

The time had come. The C-47 cargo plane was flying high above the landing zone. Natalie busied adjusting the straps of her pylon onto her back as her squad and Renee lined up by the door. Mokoa tapped her shoulder behind her, signaling it was time to jump. Slipping large tinted goggles over her eyes were the last preparations she could make before the door was shoved open by Anita. She watched in awe as Renee, un-phased, tugged up her scarf and leaped out of the plane. Walter was next, giving a flimsy salute to Anita before laughing his way out. Her turn. Her throat went dry as she gripped onto the door frame and peered out to the ground so far below. Out of instinct her foot tried to back pedal herself back inside, but Mokoa blocked her way.

“Hahah, sorry Braddah!” Mokoa shouted and shoved her out the plane.

Her limbs twisted unnaturally around her as she flailed for some sort of stability. The wind whipped by her as she plummeted to the ground. Below her in the green hills was tucked a gray compound near a river. At least that all she could make out with how she was spinning. Being so disorientated she didn’t realize the hands start to tug on her pack. The world below her stabilized as she rolled onto her stomach. Her gaze snapped up to see Renee. She maneuvered so easily in the air, like she had done this a thousand times before. She moved next to her now focused on the rapidly approaching ground below them. Natalie couldn’t help but blush at the little smirk that found its way onto Renee’s lips.

_Maybe you tend to jump to conclusions._

_And are often over protective._

_Maybe I tend to bite off a bit more than I can chew sometimes._

_And get frustrated when people point that out._

_But, you figured out how to see past that._

_And still catch me when I fall…_


	21. Infiltration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mission starts as planned, the teams enter with their separate goals in mind. Natalie must take out the facilities power and cause a distraction as Renee retrieves the notorious Doctor Nox. Little do they know about the traps that lay ahead...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys! *bam pow* action time! Sorry for the later upload, writing action is still something I know I need to improve (at least to me). Let me know if you have any tips I should work on. All feedback is appreciated <3 Also damn officially over 50k words, never really stuck with something this long before so thanks for sticking with me! Okay I'll stop rambling lol

“First asking for reports so early in the morning, and now having to scramble to file these papers so late in the day! Doctor Nox is trying to run me ragged!”

The young man huffed as he carried a stack of folders down a nearly empty hall. It was pretty late in the afternoon now and his co-workers had all left for the day, all that remained were the guards and a few of his more nocturnal peers. His worn loafers clicked down the tiled hall as he passed two of said guards. His lips formed a tight line as they passed. The soldiers, seemingly relaxed, were busy joking around.

“Ugh.” The man mumbled once out of ear shot. “Don’t they know we are doing very important work that needs the upmost security?”

Nearing the end of the hall he shifted the stack of files to one arm and readied the other to open one of the double doors.

“I guess I can understand, it is unlikely we’d be attac-“

Just as the man opened the door, the butt of a rifle came to meet his face. With a sickening crunch He felt himself fall back onto the floor. Papers flew everywhere as he saw an eye patched man step over him. The older man looked down at him pitifully as he shrugged.

“Ah, sorry mate. Time for you to sleep, ya?” He said as he brought the butt of the gun back down to smash against his face, knocking him out.

Walter looked back up through the door. A sheepish smile crossed his lips as Natalie rolled her eyes and stepped over the man. Mokoa was quick to follow, scanning the area ahead with his shotgun.

“We were only directed to use force with enemy _soldiers_ , Walter.” Natalie chided as she approached him.

“Hey! Can’t a fella make an honest bloody mistake every once and a while?”

“Come on now, no more fighting you two. Your plans said the service floor is up ahead?”

“Oui, Shouldn’t be much father now.” Natalie said while checking the slide on her pistol for the third time.

Walter took point, followed closely behind by Natalie with Mokoa taking up the rear. The boys have already proved themselves to be capable in a fight. Thankfully their less than quite entrance didn’t alert the main facility. Natalie herself didn’t even want to think about just how many grenades and explosives the man in front of her had on him. Together they moved quietly down the hall. She was starting to regret how carful they were playing it as time was ticking by and somewhere in the facility Renee was waiting for her signal/distraction.

Soon they found their destination. A set of steel doors greeted them at the bottom of a stairwell. Natalie rushed ahead and desperately tugged on the handles to no avail.

“I think this is where Ol’ Wally comes in!” The man laughed and brushed the engineer to the side as he started to pull things from his pack. “Might wanna back up for this one, love. Gonna be a right big one!” He winked over his shoulder.

Natalie’s face contorted in something akin to disgust and she huffed back up the stairs to Mokoa. “If you blow up anything more than the door…”

“I won’t, been around this block longer then you have, kid.”

The three of them took shelter on the stairs after Walter placed his explosives. With a flick of a switch a loud bang sounded and the double doors flew open and slammed inside of the room with a cloud of smoke. Running down the stairs revealed the room to be occupied by four soldiers recovering from the sudden blast. One ran to slam an alarm as the other three fumbled to draw their weapons.

Mokoa dropped two with a pump of his shotgun, and Walter was able to take out one with his M1. The enemy’s shot went wide, sparking off of the towers of cables lining the walls before he perished. Natalie raised her own pistol at the guard running for the alarm. Four shots rang out. The first two a tad slow and skipped off the control panels behind him. The last two found their mark, sinking into his chest. In one last spiteful act the downed man reached out and his hand found a large red button on the side of the control counsel before slipping to the floor.

Natalie’s hands shook as red flashing light took over the facility. A loud alarm blared. It all was quickly was becoming too much. She had just killed a man, one not even trying to kill her on top of that. And now there would be more flooding to the area. She was feeling herself start to panic. She felt her shoulders shake and Mokoa was shouting something at her. His usual happy smile gone, replaced with something more urgent.

“-ell hold them off, you need to cut the power Braddah!”

Right the power! She needed to disable the power. She could think about everything else later, she just needed to focus on cutting the electricity. Incapable of creating words at the moment she nodded and stumbled over the bodies of the men to the counsel. Falling to her knees she push the bloody corpse of the man she had killed away and started to pry at the panel there.

_The best way to take out the power of any circuit is to either remove its source or in this case…_

With a satisfying clang she removed the metal panel and dived into the rats’ nest of wires hidden inside. Vaguely she could hear gunfire under the alarm and sweat began to form on her brow. She wouldn’t have much time to do this. Bracing her feet on the line of control panels she tugged out a surprisingly big assortment of cables. She set down the pylon from her back and hooked the leads to the main cable bundle.

_In this case, overload it!_

With a flip of a switch the little robot spun to life. The copper coils twisted around in the air at an increasing speed. The gunfire was growing in intensity as the enemy guards started to flood down the stairs.

“How’s it going in there, Kid?!” Walter shouted as he pulled a pin with his teeth.

Just as the grenade went off in the stairwell, sparks started to cascade from the pylon. Natalie popped up from the counsel to fire at some charging soldiers trying to make their way through the door. Bullets whizzed by her hair as she unloaded the magazine into the doorway. The metal grew hot in her hands as she ducked down to reload.

“Fuck… Renee please be safe.” She prayed and hopped up to rejoin the fight.

Behind her the pylon could no longer create anymore charge and exploded in a ball of electricity. A bright flash was all anyone could see before it all went dark.

_-meanwhile-_

Renee was busy hiding behind a few cabinets in what appeared to be a research lab. Distantly she could hear the plink of gunfire as Natalie’s squad entered the building at a separate entrance. The few guards that remained in this lab must have noticed it too and quickly made their way to the odd noise on the other side of the building. The squad were to serve as a distraction for her to sneak into the deeper parts of the facility and to Renee’s grimace they were proving to be too good for the job. On near silent footsteps she continued her way to the adjoining room.

The armor she now wore felt odd around her as she moved. Apparently it’s the latest model from the U.S. The fiberglass plate was surprisingly light and Anita had requested it fitted to her measurements. It was like a second skin, well at least as much as an armored vest could be.

_I’m just happy they didn’t dye it that ugly green all American’s are obsessed with._

“You and me both.” Renee mumbled with a smirk. “Natalie seemed to like it.”

_She couldn’t keep her eyes off you when you landed._

“What can I say? We look good in black.”

_Eyes up, traps nearby…_

The voice’s change in tone brought a shift in Renee’s posture. She was warned there would be more dangerous security measures in place as she neared Nox’s living quarters. The man was paranoid well before joining the Nazis it seems. She didn’t have much time to dwell on that as the rush of footsteps from her previous room were growing in volume. Looking around she saw her only other escape was a large steel door leading out of the room. It would have to do as an escape or a place to hide as she heaved the heavy door open.

Once she slipped inside she realized the mistake she made. Inside was a short hallway with another steel door leading out. The hallway lights flicked green and putrid smog started to funnel in from the vents on the floor. Instantly the air became hard to swallow and Renee found herself coughing halfway to the opposite door. Renee cursed herself as she fumbled for her bag. This was Nox’s specialty, as a chemist he understood poisonous gases well and supplied his knowledge to the German cause. Renee could already feel the taste of iron bubble up her throat as the caustic air traveled down into her lungs.

Her shoulder slammed into the opposing door as she found what she was groping for. A black face mask was slipped over her head. Spinning the low profile filter on the side into place brought her a sense of relief as the air got easier to breath. With a few deep filtered breaths her strength came back to her. Even then it took all of her strength to try and force open the door. It quickly became clear it was barred on the other side.

Gathering her focus she ripped open a portal. She, like when she left her room back at the post office, simply slipped into a dimension that had this door open then slipped back into her original. She stumbled out of the other side already exhausted. Slipping into the void was one thing, but dimension hopping was something she had still yet to get used to. She bent over with her hands braced on her legs as she caught her breath. She was close to the Doctor as she found herself in some sort of chemistry lab. Glass vials were stacked neatly on the counters and bottles with fading text were packed into cabinets. Slipping her way around the lab brought her to a hallway guarded with two men. Just as she was thinking of ways to take both of them out the lights in the facility went red and an alarm started to blare.

“Damnit Nat…” Renee cursed under her breath. “You better be okay or I swear-“

At the sound of the alarm one of the guards left their post to search for the intrusion. The remaining one was easy to knock out with the butt of her submachine gun. She didn’t have long now as every second more guards will flood to either the service floor or unfortunately down here to protect the doctor. The guard had a pair of handcuffs on his belt and acting fast she locked them around the handles of the door the other guard had left from. The metal wasn’t the strongest but hopefully it would buy her enough time.

Moving forward she entered down to a lower floor. Her steps barely made a sound on the metal stairway. The air down her was stuffy and burned her nose even with the mask on. Chemical agents were stacked half hazardly on the tables. A few of them were even knocked over and spilling their contents on the floor. The red lighting cast an eerie glow as she paced the room searching for the Doctor. She paused when she found the chair. A large leather and metal chair strapped with restraints greeted her off to the side. The familiar construction drew memories of fear, pain and anger. Singh was the one who did this to her, but it was Nox who pushed her to her limits. She needed to survive everything in war as their solider. This included gas and other toxic weapons. Her hand went to rub against the leather as she remembered. Her frown only grew as her fingers traced over fresh scratch marks on the arms.

“Who else have you tortured here?”

“A better question would be how many failed to succeed my tests…”

She spun to the sound of the voice. Nox was standing under a nearby door frame. His voice slightly distorted from the gas mask he wore. The tall man had more gray to his hair then she had last seen him as he stepped into the room.

“The answer? All of them, all of them, but… you.”

“You-“ Renee’s voice cracked as the intimidating presents of this man once again started to overtake her. “You are coming with me, you’re going back to America to pay for everything you’ve done!”

“Is that so?” The man chucked a haunting laugh. Even at gun point he sauntered towards her. “Would you like to know the probability of you getting out of this alive? It’s close to zero.”

As he approached Renee felt herself trapped in old fears of this monster and stood paralyzed in her boots. At that moment as he reached for her, the lights cut out.

_Move!_

No longer able to see anything, Renee trusted the voice and dodged out of the way. She stumbled, bumping into the counters and spilling more chemicals on the ground. Retracing her steps led her to the stairs where she was able to calm her breathing. The dark was her advantage. The others seemingly could see well even in total blackness from the void and gave her an edge while her opponent remained blind. She took a deep breath and focused on the cascade of voices flooding through her mind. She let herself be guided as she snuck along the wall. It helped she could recognize the large man’s boot steps a mile away.

_There! Ten degrees to the right!_

Shifting the SMG up to her shoulder she fired blindly. The flash of the muzzle brightening the room as a bust of bullets skimmed by the man. He dived behind cover as she saw him toss some sort of metal canister by her feet. The lights on the canister flash green and beeped a few times before erupting in a cloud of green poisonous gas. The gas was so intense that the filter she had couldn’t keep up and she was once again choking on fumes. Her eyes watered as she scrambled to get away. The lights from the canister lit the fog an unworldly green around her as she stumbled and fell to her hands and knees. Just as her hand made contact with the metal stairs she felt something tug at the collar of her vest. She was yanked back with impressive strength. Her vision was obscured as he palmed her face and pinned her against the wall. His breath fogged up the lens of his mask and she could hear the smile in his words.

“Breath it in…”

In a panic she felt her mask start to crush in his hand. The small line of defense she had was being torn away and more poison was getting leaked in. She phased from his grasp, but the damage was done as the filter was partially cracked. She phased behind him and slammed the gun to the back of his head, intending on ending this quickly. But the man had other plans as he seemed to shrug it off with a crack of his neck. Slowly he turned around, laughing that same deranged laugh.

“Out of all my subjects, you always proved the most fascinating to Singh. I never understood why, until I saw you open that portal. You proved other dimensions exist. Other dimensions with so many… possibilities, filled with an infinite amount of lab rats to preform my experiments on!”

“Is that why you hunted me down? So you could have my tech to lead yourself through the other world?”

“I wouldn’t need _just_ your technology, I will need you as well.”

“Like hell I’d ever work with someone like you!”

“I’m afraid that was never a variable I even considered…” He sneered and took a step forward. “Your free will only needs to be, _expunged_ first.”

Before he could take another step Renee phased around to deliver a swift kick to the side of the head. The scientist was built like a mountain though and shrugged off the blow. With a surprising amount of force the palm of his hand came in contact with her face and she was slammed to the ground. Her mask flew off and skidded on the floor at the force of the impact. Iron bubbled up her throat as blood spilled over her lips. She tried to roll on her side but was stopped as a large hand pinned her head down to the floor. Pain shot through her temple as she was shoved down on the tile. The weight was crushing as he knelt beside her body.

“I will say this reunion was… disappointing to say at least.”

Her breathing was ragged and tasted of nothing but blood. Cold energy gathered around her as she felt the adrenaline surge through her body. Once more she phased, but not for long as her body was already straining. Her fingers snagged on his mask as she phased back in. She tore franticly at it, no doubt leaving long scratch marks on his cheeks. She twisted and kicked him away awkwardly as she ripped the rubber mask off. It was ferial as she crawled away and slipped mask on herself. Maybe it was his age, or prior exposure, but within a few moments Nox was hunched over on his knees gagging on his own creation. So much of her wanted him to die right then. She could just leave and be done with this. It would be easy.

“Please! You must stop this!” He choked out. “The canister!”

He reached out for the metal container a foot away. His struggling fingers scratching at the floor as he continued to violently cough. Just as his middle finger brushed the metal Renee’s boot kicked it away.

“Not yet Doctor.” She smirked and crouched down in front of the struggling man. “You are going to tell me who I am first.”

“What an, unfortunate turn of events.” He wheezed.

“Just tell me and I’ll shut it off.”

“Renee Blasey, you were brought to us as a prisoner of war. Such a, good fighter it was a shame you, were on the wrong side.”

“Prisoner of what country?!”

“I believe the agent helping you can clarify that question.” He chuckled with a harsh cough. “They’re using you and once you’re done they’ll lock you right back up where you belong.”

“Anita would have told me, she performs background checks on everyone she worked with.”

“Don’t believe me if you will, but it’s the truth.”

“I’ve heard enough.” Renee spat and swiftly kicked the man’s head.

Seemingly unconscious she quickly picked up the canister. It was still puffing out green fog as she rotated it in her hands. She was so focused on trying to deactivate the device she didn’t hear the shuffling behind her.

_Behind you!_

Renee spun to see the man hunched over and in her face. Blood soaked down his beard and his eyes were wild and red. He lunged towards her in one final attack as he pulled a hidden knife from his coat and buried it into her stomach.

“If I am to die here, then so shall you…”


	22. To Have Faith in Another

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final fight is at hand, Natalie's team had successfully knocked out the lights and disorientated the guards, while Renee faces off with the unstoppable Doctor Nox. With their lives on the line only time will tell if either of them will survive and see each other on the other side.

The darkness did not last for Natalie as gunfire pounded into the room. The strobing blasts flashed ahead of the girl. Her pylon lay in a smoking mass behind her. Their job complete all they needed to do is escape with their lives. Makoa’s shotgun clicked empty as another solider swung into the entrance. The large man quickly tackled the guard to the ground. Walter was busy pulling another pin on his many grenades he didn’t notice the two men struggling on the floor. Makoa was flipped onto his back with surprising force and the hand gun was wrenched from his grasp. With a slight shake to her hands Natalie pumped two rounds into the guard before he could hurt Makoa. Another blast sounded from the stairwell and all went quite.

A heavy groan sounded from over where Makoa was as Natalie fumbled in her pack. Finding what she was searching for she clicked on a flashlight and held it out. Unfortunately the light happened to fall right on Walter’s face.

“Ah! Easy now, you’ll blind someone with that thing.” He grumbled and shielded his eye with his hand.

“Pardon, Makoa? Are you alright?” Natalie called and quickly paced over to the man.

Makoa panted as he shoved off the unmoving solider from on top of him. He rose a bit unsteadily to his knee. The helmet he wore lay overturned besides him as he caught his breath.

“I am now, thank you. I’m not sure if I would’ve had that one if you didn’t back me up.”

Natalie only nodded shakily and focused on picking up the helmet. She felt her stomach churn as she saw the man she had shot. One bullet was nestled directly between his eyes and the gore unnerved her. She probably would’ve continued to stare if Makoa didn’t reach for his helmet.

“It’s gonna be alright, sister. Just remember it was you or him.” He smiled as he fitted the strap around his chin. “He knew the risks as did you.”

“Seems like we took out quite a few of those boys! Should be a straight shot back outta here.” Walter called from the stairwell.

“Good, that’s less for Renee to deal with then…” Natalie tried to smile but it was dampened with obvious worry.

Makoa’s lips formed a tight line as he stood up and inspected the smaller woman. After a moment he nodded and turned to his companion.

“Change of plans, we’re staying.”

“What?! You can’t be serious mate? The building’s still probably crawlin with guards.”

“That woman might need help carrying the doctor out.” Makoa chuckled with a shit-eating grin and a wink to Natalie.

“Makoa we can’t-“

“Bloody hell we can’t! Ol’Wally knows when his lucks about to run out!”

Makoa only put his hand up to quite the man. “What if it were your girl, braddah?”

“My gr- Oh, Ohhhhhh.” Walter said with a tired hand coming up to palm his forehead. “I see, so a rescue mission it is then, boys?”

“Non, she can take care of herself.” Natalie said after a moment of hesitation.

“But-“

“No. I know Renee better than any of you. We stick to the mission and clear her a path.”

Natalie stern face caused the men to take a step back as she walked passed them. Seeing a discarded submachine gun she picked it up and shoved it into Makoa’s arms. The young woman’s stoic posture faltered as she looked up to the taller man’s face.

“She can do this, I have faith that she can. So please have faith in me.”

-

Pain traveled up her spine as her back hit the hard floor. The weight of the doctor started to crush the small woman and sink the knife deeper into her gut. Using all of her strength she took the metal canister in her hand and smashed it into the man’s temple. She flailed, repeatedly hitting the blunt object against the doctor’s head. On the third hit something broke. The gas leaking out of the canister stopped and the green light went out. Nox’s grip finally lessened at the fourth hit and she was able to slip out from under him. Back on her feet and in total darkness, she had reclaimed her advantage. Her stomach bloomed in pain as she hobbled away to the lab tables.

_It’s not a deep wound._

_The armor stopped most of it._

**_You need to end this now._ **

Faintly she could hear the man shifting in the room. She couldn’t determine his exact location as she reclaimed her fallen gun. After she checked the slide she could hear some rustling coming from the adjoining room he had initially appeared from. Slowly she stealthy paced towards the now dimly lit room. The man must be running on pure adrenalin by now with how many blows he had to the head. Soon that will pass and she’ll be able to drag him out. At least that is what she though as she stepped through the doorway.

_Duck!_

Following the voices warnings Renee hit the deck, narrowly avoiding the heavy sledge hammer that buried itself into the drywall next to her head. The next three swings were wide and wild. One of which skimmed the tip of her nose as she dodged back. The wide swings were intentional it seemed, as when she dodged back her leg had caught on something. A few messy boxes had caused her to trip and tumble back onto her ass. The moment of trying to right herself was all the time Nox needed to wind up and swing. The heavy hammer cracked into her back as she stumbled to her feet. She felt the air leave her lungs as she was thrown out of the room. The sheer force of the blow caused her to tumble like a ragdoll and her stolen mask to fly off her. The cool tile once again met her face as she regained her senses.

The pain had yet to hit her as she struggled for her limbs to move the way she wanted them to. She could hear the boot steps approach behind her as she heaved herself onto her forearms. Coughing she felt the anger filled presents above her. She tried to move, but the shock of the blow was quickly being replaced with paralyzing pain. Just as she was able to get up to her hands and knees anther savage blow slammed her back down to the floor. She felt something crack in her chest and this time she couldn’t raise herself to her elbows. Panting in a small pool of her own blood, Renee stared out at her own pale hand.

_When did I last hold hers?_

She remembered. It was on the plane after talking about her relationship with Natalie. Natalie, the awkward klutz of an electrical engineer that stole her heart. She remembered the plane and her laid up in the hospital. Every late night she would sneak into her room just to check on her recovery, before that she remembered the assassin and how she bravely protected her. She remembered her motorcycle and Natalie’s bright smile when she first rode with her. Before that she felt so proud of how quick she learned to fire guns and how beautifully stubborn the young woman was. She gave Renee so much warmth in a night she would never forget. So much love for a disaster of a woman like herself.

Renee thought about this as she lay there, breath no longer coming easily to her. An image came to her from what seemed like many years ago. A beautiful young girl in a yellow sundress and large floppy hat, carrying a suitcase alongside the road. She crouched down and simply admired the lavender flowers.

How she loved her, even back then.

“Any last words, Subject 61137?”

“Yeah…” Renee wheezed and flexed her fingers.

“Like hell I’m dying here!”

Just as Nox was about to slam his hammer down once more, Renee rolled to her back. Her sub machinegun still in her hands as she blindly fired. Blood sprayed from the man’s shoulder as he was knocked back from the point blank range. He stumbled back enough for Renee to heave herself up to her feet. Her head pounded as she phased behind him and raised the butt of the gun once more to the back of his head. The man fell forward like a cut down tree. The hammer banged off the ground as he laid there unconscious.

Renee crumpled to her knees, nearly spent. Catching her breath she finally addressed the knife wound in the dim light. The voice was correct as the armor defected most of the impact, but still red warm blood began to seep into the jacket. Not immediately fatal but now she was on a time limit. Stuffing some gauze in between her shirt she once again rose to her feet and heaved the heavy man’s arm around her shoulder. She glanced to her bracer to see it charged to a hundred percent.

“I guess you will get to go into the other world after all doctor, too bad you’ll be asleep.” She huffed a dry chuckle and waved her hand.

Moving through the void was already taxing as it is, moving two is hard and moving someone as heavy as the doctor was near impossible. As she stepped out near the entrance of the facility she was completely tapped and crumpled to the concreate driveway. Nox fell to a heap next to her as she struggled on shaky limbs to look up. Her sweaty hair brushed by her nose as she saw the most beautiful sight bound to her.

Natalie, her Natalie was running towards her. They must have just exited as well as the evac truck was pulling in. Natalie fell to her knees trying to scoop up the woman in an embrace. Tired limbs encircled each other. Soot stained those freckled cheeks she loved and the younger woman smelled like electrical fire and burnt gunpowder.

“Je savais que tu réussirais, I knew you could do it. I knew you could.” Natalie was nearly praying into her scarf.

“Thanks for the distraction, it really saved my ass.”

“My pleasure, Cherie. It is a cute one to save after all!” Natalie giggled and brushed some dark hair from sticking to a fresh cut on her forehead. “Now come, we must be away from this place, oui?”

“I would if I could Nat, but-“ Renee stuttered out with a grimace at the pain. “I’m pretty tapped. Could you get one of the guys to lend a hand?”

“No need.” Natalie said with a smirk and bundled the woman up into her lap. With a huff she gently carried Renee to the truck. The older woman’s feet dangled besides her hips and Renee buried her face into the engineer’s neck.

“Nat..” Renee mumbled not wanting to leave the warmth and safety of the embrace.

“Oui, Renee?”

“I love you.” She said quietly and clung a bit tighter.

“As do I, Renee Blasey. Je t’aime aussi.” Natalie cooed and held the woman tighter as she climbed aboard the truck. A light angelic laugh brushed by her hair as Natalie continued.

“I believe I owe someone some chocolate soufflé. If you’ll have me that is?”

A little dizzy Renee pulled herself from Natalie’s neck. Her eyes looked so much older than the last time they were this close. For a moment she worried how the stress hardened the young woman, which is until she saw the faint blush seep through dirt stained cheeks.

_She still gets nervous asking you out…_

_How adorable._

“It’s a date.” Renee smiled and nuzzled in to capture soft lips with her own. Natalie giggled into the kiss as a faint whistle sounded from Walter on the other side of the truck. Neither of them paid him much mind, they had each other and honestly…

That’s all that matters.

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to ProfsrHuntr and SaltyMexicanLesbean for your sweet comments that pushed me to post a fuller story! <3


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